Scaling the heights of story
Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a big fan of narrative preaching. I can see narrative in a 30-second advert, a still photo or a painting.
Like many others I watched in awe earlier this week as Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell completed their nineteen-day ascent of El Capitan. However, what has interested me especially is the way it has been described. On Tuesday Jorgesen tweeted that ‘This is not an effort to ‘conquer’. It’s about realizing a dream’. Meanwhile , President Obama congratulated the climbers saying that ‘you remind us anything is possible’. However, it was the comment of an awestruck climber watching from the ground which really struck me:
“I don’t really look at it as a climb – its just this heroic narrative”
There are many narratives competing for our attention just now – but this one has the advantage of inspiring all who reach for something seemingly impossible.
Image: nationalgeographic.com
