Last night we watched ‘The Last Motel’. The lights came up on a woman tied, lying on a bed and a man wearing a turkey head.
As we watched we gradually understood… a robbery and a kidnap… the man works at a poultry farm… the woman’s a vicar… the man has three daughters he’s struggling to support… the woman’s husband has recently died of cancer… the man’s nervous and uncertain… the woman becomes more confident…
Unexpected twists and turns… Only in the final minutes do we, the audience, understand the whole story.
In yesterday’s local paper I read, ‘A woman has been jailed for attacking a love rival with a glass during a confrontation in a hotel room.’
On the same page were two more articles: ‘A 20-year-old accused of being found with a large quantity of wraps of heroin and several mobile phones has appeared in court…’
‘A Norfolk man stole almost £250 worth of Lego to pay for drink after he split from his girlfriend…’
I read the articles; I understood the incidents… but realised that they were parts of whole life stories of which I know nothing.
I chatted with my friend Dave yesterday. It’s a few weeks since we last spoke – it was good to catch up. We talked about his new job as a hospital chaplain… but that’s only one part of Dave’s story… his addictions and struggles, the influence of Alcoholics Anonymous, meeting his wife, coming to faith, theological training…
Dave’s ‘whole life story’ – up to now – is remarkable with unexpected twists and turns…
Musing on my ‘whole life story’… the significance of apparently small incidents and decisions… learning to play the piano, meeting Rachel, teacher training in Derby (why choose Derby?!), ‘unsuccessful’ job interviews…
Musing on the nature of faith… the God who knows and cares about my ‘whole story’… trusting Him with all of it… knowing that my story is unfinished… entrusting the unknown, uncertain future to Him until the story is complete.
malcolmsmusings.org 
Backstories are important but they don’t justify willful sin. Faith in the Good Lord makes it less challenging to get on the right path.
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You’re absolutely right, Nancy. I’m certainly not excusing criminal behaviour. As I read the articles, I was thinking that I don’t know these people… if they were friends of mine who had messed up for whatever reason my feelings towards the stories would be different.
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I understood your message-it was a good one-and took the baton to continue to emphasize the importance of backstories. Thanks for throwing an interesting topic out in the blogosphere that generates feedback, Malcolm. 🙂
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I looked at over 100 news headlines yesterday, clicking on none of them thinking “it’s all opinion of a slice of the story not understood by anyone”
I am officially jaded.
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It was just something that struck me as I read those stories. I’m not excusing their behaviour, just saying that I didn’t know anything of the individuals’ back stories, to help understand better.
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A wonderful post about the whole story – we just never know that with others. But thank goodness for the faith that God holds that whole story. Beautiful!
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You’re right, Wynne. A God that can see our whole story is an important part of his character. It deepens my faith – and gives me hope!
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