More on Teaching Stories

In my last post, I told a story that was inspired by a previous post, and I promised that I would have more to say about stories in this post.

I have another story today, it's the one I usually start with whenever I tell teaching stories, because it talks about the usefulness of teaching stories for personal growth.

The story begins...

I had a dream recently, in which I met an enormous wolf. I was terrified, and unable to move.

The wolf looked directly at me, and slowly walked toward me, until it stood directly in front of me. It sat back and looked down at my face.

Not knowing what else to do, I said "Hello". as if it was some neighbor's dog I had met on the street.

To my astonishment, the wolf replied with a hello of it's own.

Not knowing what else to do, I tried to make conversation, and blurted out that wolves appear in many stories that we humans tell each other. The wolf asked me to tell one. The only one that occurred to me was The Boy Who Cried Wolf, so I told that one.

After I had finished, the wolf said, "That is very interesting. We wolves also tell stories, and we have one called 'The Wolf Who Cried Boy'."

I remarked that it was a good thing that we could tell each other stories, and save each other from making big mistakes.

The wolf sadly shook it's head. "I am afraid that I have greatly over estimated your intelligence. Even stupid wolves know that a story does not teach before the experience."

End of story...

My experience has confirmed that stories teach more after the experience, and I have often found new levels of meaning in stories after having new experiences.