Imagine!
Storytelling-the highest form of orality A story-
One day naked truth went walking. Everywhere she went people scorned her for her nakedness and would not hear her words. Finally, imagination saw her difficulty and offered to accompany naked truth whenever she journeyed. When people saw how beautiful imagination was, they desired her and welcomed her words. Naked truth, of course, was welcomed everywhere imagination went. ~Adapted from a folktale
Imagination in the form of story is the beautiful companion of truth. Wherever people welcome stories, they welcome truth as well. Story is a gentle teacher; yet it has power to teach us both the way of the heart, which is compassion, and the way of the mind, which is wisdom and knowledge. Since earliest times, stories have been used to teach. Bidpai, the Indian sage, used fables to teach the sons of the kings how to rule with skill and wisdom. The Orthodox Jews used story to reflect the eternal truths found in the Torah. In Africa, even today, problem-solving stories are given to children from a very early age to encourage a discerning mind.
Every culture has its own use of story and storytelling. Storytelling communicates living ideas just as written words do. Think of the Bible stories and the truths they communicate. Remember the story of Moses, or Joseph? Both of these men’s lives make an engaging story and yet contain the eternal truths of the eternal God. One important feature of storytelling is its ability to improve creative and predictive thinking in children. It improves creative thinking because the story, when vividly imaged by the listener, exercises the mind. This ability to image is an essential ingredient in all creating. Through listening and working with story, the child develops a rich palette of images stored in the mind from which he can invent. Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century said, ‚Imagination is more important than knowledge.?
From Living Books
Watch a Lecture on Einstein’s Creativity from Aspen Institute
