In Finding Nemo Marlin was reluctant to tell his story to the sea turtles, but when he did, two things happened. One, as the story spread through the ocean, it reached Nemo, gave him hope, and encouraged him to try again to escape. Two, it caused Nigel the pelican to recognize Marlin and save him when another pelican tried to eat Marlin and Dory on the dock.
In A Little Princess, when Sara offered to share her fanciful stories with Becky, the much-abused scullery maid, she got this response: “Then,” breathed Becky, devoutly, “I wouldn’t mind how heavy the coal boxes was – or what the cook done to me, if – if I might have that to think of.”
A good story can help us bear our burdens. It can give us hope, endurance, and the spark we need to try again after we think we have nothing left inside. It can touch the lives of people we never meet.