Miss the Larger Story and you will miss your story. In the film Dead Poets Society, Professor Keating (played by Robin Williams) put it like this:
I read from Whitman.
“O me, O life! of the questions of these recurring,
of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish . . .”
Skipping . . .
“What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer
That you are here—that life exists, and identity.
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”
“That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”
Incredible. . . .
What will your verse be?
Our stories intersect, our contributions collide, and together we either become more or retreat into less. History is full of the wild collisions of characters that stepped onto the grand stage to play a part in time in a much Larger Story. A story they were born into that was already in motion, and one that will carry on after they are gone and continue until God brings the curtain down on these chapters and opens up the new beginning that has no ending, the restoration of all things new (Revelation 21:5).
Until then, be assured, your life matters. Your story matters. It matters a great deal. Every choice and every word, every action and every interaction, matters. Every man and woman will have an effect on the lives of others. In different roles, many often at the same time—husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, stepfather, step- son—each of us is integral to the grand story. There are no minor roles. Every man has an impact, and every man is also impacted along his masculine journey.
From infancy to the grave, boyhood to old age, every man will both be marked and leave his mark. The question is, to what end? Wounded hearts wound hearts, and free hearts free hearts, and therefore there is always much more going on from day to day than meets the eye. There is always “the rest of the story.” Learning what is real and true along the way is a hazardous enterprise. What are the odds you have interpreted your life accurately?
