Narrative or story is the form through which we begin to make sense of the world, as well as react to it. We make connections between what we do and what others do. In childhood and in primitive religion the world's activity is attributed to our own actions and the actions of other, more powerful beings in a rough ordering of cause and effect. We are nurtured by the stories told to us, and we tell stories.

The full flower of the narrative stage usually comes at around age twelve. If, as a parent or teacher, you ask a 10-year-old "what happened?" you will get a story. If you interrupt and say, "Get to the point—what happened?" the youngster will often start the story again from the beginning. That is the way a 10-year-old makes sense of the world. But all of us retain the story-telling mode. Good speakers and preachers will tell you the power of stories for every age group. When you tell stories, you can see people visibly relax and adopt a different posture. The second step of the process is to have participants share a part of their own story.

Depending on the focus of the day, we might ask, "What has been your personal experience of war?" or "What personal contact have you had with Muslims or people of a different religion?" or "Where were you on 9/11?" In the process of telling our stories, we acknowledge some of our personal hopes and fears and begin to understand the experience of those who disagree with us. If we ask a broad question like "What has it been like to live in the shadow of 9/11?" the story begins to be a shared experience with many different voices.

We next build on the story-telling stage in Bible study. Rather than use the Bible as a proof-text or basis for discussion, we use it as a story that speaks to our experience of fear and hope. The Bible becomes a shared story, a part of our communal experience—for beyond the level of the individual story we understand ourselves as human beings by belonging, by being members of a community. Shared stories are one of the foundations of community.