In the past year, I have discovered that I really enjoy biographies.  Well, auto-biographies to be more specific; sometimes the authors of biographies don't seem to know what on earth they're talking about.  It's so much fun to hear people's stories- that also could be why I enjoy the relational aspect of ministry so much- and every person has an interesting story.  They may not think so, but people's lives are fascinating.

I love the show The West Wing.  If I had watched it when it was actually on air and not in reruns, maybe I would have scored higher than a 2 on my AP Government test.  While perusing my town's library one day, I saw Stories I Only Tell My Friends by the actor Rob Lowe, who played Sam Seaborne on The West Wing.  I knew that there had been some tabloid turmoil over him when he was in his teens, but aside from that, I knew nothing about him other than his character on The West Wing.  I've always been interested in writings and the behind the scenes component of films and series and, as I was at that point engrossed in the show, I thought maybe he'd write on how the it was made. 

When I finished the book, I had a conversation with a friend about the book.  He had briefly touched upon the incident from his younger days, much like Dick Van Dyke touched on his alcoholism in My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business, and I asked her, "Do you think that he wrote this to defend his mistakes or because he has a story and every person deserves to have their story heard?"  It's true, every person does deserve to have their story heard.  I don't mean that every person in the world should be aware of the inner-workings of each person's mind or every past mistake and triumph; think of what chaos that would cause!  What I mean is, every person is important and we can learn from each other.

My sister and I used to play a game at baseball games where we would pick one person sitting near us and a. count how many beers they had and b. try to come up with their story.  For instance, there was a younger guy, probably in his upper 20s sitting in front of us at one Cubs-Brewers game.  We decided that his name was Erik Carlisle (Erik with a k, mind you), he was there with his brother-in-law and possibly an uncle or his brother-in-law's father, he worked in an enterprise of some sort (he had the haircut for it), drove a little zippy black car, and had had a few long relationships, but nothing that really stuck.  Oh, and he had had five beers during the course of the game.  In the span of nine innings, we wrote the outline of this guy's life.  Stories are interesting, and we want to know about one another.

Recently, I met a man from my organization who has done so many things in his life.  He came to know Christ on a trip to Africa, he went to an Ivy League university, flew airplanes, lived all over the world, and that was all before his 30s.  It was absolutely fascinating to talk to him.  Another friend told me about how God had saved her from a shipwreck.  How often do you hear about five passenger shipwrecks these days?  It could actually be common, and I just don't pay attention to the news, but regardless, her story was amazing. 

Knowing others' stories can move us and profoundly change us.  As Glinda the Good Witch of the North sings in Stephen Schwartz's Wicked, "Who can say if I've been changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good."  Learning from other people's experiences, as well as sharing our own, can change how we think and how we act.  Maybe it will make us think twice about how we use the phrase "You only live once" so we will not waste our lives, or maybe it will inspire us to make foolish decisions because other people did, but hopefully, it is the former.  What a great blessing it is to learn from each other.