Storytime

All of us have a story. Many of us love to hear a one. Some of us have written our story into Memoirs and others still have their story to tell. We have used story to influence, inspire and teach and we continue to share them. We have done so since the beginning of time. Originating in the 13th Century were people called griots. These storytellers or entertainers from Ancient Africa used praise, songs and poems or music to share oral tradition.

They are still active today among the Mande peoples and more predominant in northern West Africa - both male and female. They are the counterpart to the European minstrel and in Ancient Africa were referred to as jeli or griot. Be careful, not to mix the letters and you will see that groit is Haiti’s most loved dish! however, a griot is a living archive of people’s traditions. Alex Haley references griots in his novel, “Roots”. Lawrence Hill’s main character is a jeli in his novel “The Book of Negroes” Pelagie Gbaguidi is a contemporary artist who is also referred to as a griot. Even the Trinidadian poet and musician Anthony Joseph named the first song on one of his albums, Griot.

In Indigenous culture, “knowledge keepers” or storytellers have to be trained, apprenticed and given the right to share knowledge through stories. They share history, practical skills, customs and values to pass on to the next generation. The ultimate storyteller was Jesus who taught his disciples and others by using parables. But the greatest story every told, was not just a book written in 1989 or a movie by that title which was a retelling of Jesus’ life in 1965; but the true account of Jesus’ ascension into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of God waiting to return to earth. If you haven’t heard the greatest story every told, it’s available from four different perspectives in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They are worth the read and worth retelling, sharing and teaching.

Mark 4:33

With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;

Matthew 13:34

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.