Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever. (Native American proverb)
More and more is being said today about orality, the increased value of learning by hearing the spoken word, rather than traditional “book-learning.” Workers among people groups that don’t have a written language or have low literacy rates are finding that story-telling is a much more successful learning method. It works well with the more literate, too.
Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field.” (Matthew 13:24)