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Story: Poison Control Conference (2021)

The little girl was grievously ill. Her parents had traveled 4,000 miles from their home in Qatar to bring her to the finest doctors in London, but her condition baffled everyone who examined her. Without answers, many feared her life might soon come to an end.

The 19-month-old was lethargic, frequently blacked out without warning, and could barely sit upright. Her arms and legs often showed little feeling.

One of her nurses, Marsha Maitland, thought the symptoms sounded familiar. She suggested testing for poison, but the doctors assured her they had already tested for every common toxin an infant might ingest.

Marsha asked one more question:

“Has anyone tested for thallium?”

Running out of options, the hospital contacted Scotland Yard. Sure enough, they discovered thallium poisoning in the child’s blood and began treatment that ultimately saved her life. Her parents had unknowingly used the poisonous compound to kill cockroaches, and the little girl had found it.

When asked how she knew to suggest thallium, Nurse Maitland explained she had recently been reading Agatha Christie’s novel The Pale Horse. Christie’s fictional description of thallium poisoning was so medically accurate that, fifteen years after the novel was published, it helped save a child’s life.

The Power of Story

• Story
  • Is as old as humanity itself.
  • Weaves its threads through every culture and tradition.
  • Lies at the heart of what it means to be human.
• Pagan tradition—and many others—places story at the center of spiritual practice.
  • Yule season continues.
    • Ancestors gathered indoors during the long, cold nights.
    • Storytelling became essential.
    • Songs of ancestors.
    • Myths that shaped beliefs and ceremonies.
    • A wellspring of meaning, connection, and transformation.
• We all tell stories.
  • Pitching ideas.
  • Presentations.
  • Sharing weekend adventures.
  • Eulogies.
  • Jokes.
  • Education.
  • Opening any presentation by creating connection.
• Stories are up to 22 times more memorable than facts alone.
  • Stories allow us to step into another person’s experience.
  • They stay with us more effectively than charts or statistics.
  • If you want people to remember ideas…
  • If you want people to change…
  • If you want people to achieve better results…
  • Tell stories.
• Stories have everything facts wish they had.
  • Color.
  • Characters.
  • Emotion.
  • Sights.
  • Smells.
  • Sounds.
  • Meaningful context.
• Stories
  • Are more than entertainment.
  • Shape identity.
  • Connect us to one another.
  • Help us understand the world and our place within it.
  • Serve as vehicles of meaning.
  • Become vessels for truth.
  • Act as catalysts for transformation.

Sacred Stories

• Myths of gods and ancestors are living stories.
  • They continue to guide us today.
  • They are meant to be lived—not merely heard.
  • We discover ourselves within them.
  • We become part of something ancient and interconnected.
• The gods are not simply distant beings.
  • They are archetypes waiting to awaken within us.
  • Calling upon their stories calls forth those same qualities within ourselves.
• Examples
  • Pandora’s Box.
  • Medusa and Perseus.
  • Persephone and Hades.
  • Modern myths:
    • The Wizard of Oz.
    • Harry Potter.
    • Nancy Drew.
    • Sherlock Holmes.
    • Huckleberry Finn.
    • Luke Skywalker.
    • Princess Leia.
    • Han Solo.
    • Captain Picard.
    • Lt. Worf.
• Ask yourself:
  • What myth will you live this week?
  • Will you be the seeker?
  • The healer?
  • The guardian at the threshold?

Stories Shape Us

• Each of us is a living library.
  • Filled with stories of love, triumph, beauty, new beginnings, courageous choices, and unexpected kindness.
  • Also filled with pain, sorrow, regret, and loss.
  • Honor every story, because together they make us who we are.
• Personal Reflection
  • Understanding our stories helps us discover our purpose.
  • What brought you here today?
    • An invitation?
    • A longing for community?
    • A search for deeper meaning?
  • Your journey itself is a story that continues to unfold.

Reclaiming and Rewriting Stories

• Our lives are not just made up of stories; they are also made by stories.
  • Stories write us as much as we write them.
  • Who hasn’t felt controlled by a story?
    • Stuck in a story?
    • Hopeless about the way our story will end?
• Rewriting the Narrative
  • Not all stories serve us.
  • Some are like invasive weeds, choking our growth.
    • Limiting or harmful stories we tell ourselves.
    • Stories that become prisons.
    • “I’m unworthy.”
    • “I’m powerless.”
    • “I’m alone.”
    • “I’m not enough.”
    • “I don’t deserve love.”
    • “My voice doesn’t matter.”
  • Magic of transformation
    • Just as the alchemist turns lead into gold, we can transform the stories that no longer serve us.
  • “When we deny the story, it defines us. When we own the story, we can write a brave new ending.”
    • Author Brené Brown
  • Owning our stories—even the painful ones—gives us the power to transform them.
    • The work of spiritual growth is to reclaim our narratives and find the courage to write new chapters.
• Example: Persephone
  • Persephone, daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, was kidnapped by Hades, god of the underworld, and taken to be his bride.
  • When Demeter learned of her daughter’s abduction, she became deeply sad and stopped caring for the harvest, causing plants to wither and die.
  • Zeus sent Hermes to retrieve Persephone, but she could only return if she had not eaten any food in the underworld.
  • Hades gave Persephone a pomegranate to make it more difficult for her to leave, but she only ate six seeds.
  • Zeus allowed Persephone to return to Earth for six months of the year, and the seasons began.
    • When Persephone returned in spring, the plants regrew with joy.
    • When she returned to the underworld in fall, her mother mourned and winter came.
  • What if:
    • Persephone wanted to go with Hades, and Demeter prevented her?
    • Hades did not want to take Persephone as his bride, and Zeus convinced him?
    • Could telling one of these versions help someone going through something similar today?
    • A story is not “told wrong” — it is applied to the situation at hand.
• Our stories are not predetermined.
  • Are you an actor conforming to the scripts handed to you?
  • Or have you become a director, screenwriter, or author?
  • How are you struggling right now to regain control of the storyline of your life?
  • How are you and your friends working to regain control of the storyline of our community? Our country?

Community

• Storytelling is one of the oldest and most powerful ways to build community.
  • For thousands of years, people have gathered to share stories.
  • They listen and learn about themselves.
  • They discover what their lives are about.
  • They learn how shared values are acted out in the world.
• The Power of Stories to Connect
  • Stories are not only personal; they are communal.
  • Sharing our stories weaves a web of connection.
  • Shared stories can transform strangers into community.
  • Stories reinforce shared values.
  • As the community changes, so does the story.
  • Story can invite us
    • To live boldly.
    • To expand the circle of inclusion.
    • To seek justice in a world too often fractured by division.
• The Stories of Our Community
  • What story are we telling as a community?
  • Every time we gather, celebrate, share a meal, or hold space together, we weave a collective narrative.
  • Let ours be a story of welcome and inclusion.
    • One that honors diversity.
    • One that celebrates our many paths.
    • One of stewardship, where we care for the Earth as a sacred temple.
    • One of courage, where we face the challenges of our time with wisdom and strength.
  • Let us be intentional about the stories we create together.
    • When we open our doors to those seeking refuge, we tell a story of hospitality.
    • When we advocate for the marginalized, we tell a story of justice.
    • When we gather to sing, light our chalice, and hold one another in joy and sorrow, we tell a story of love.
• Living Into the Story
  • The great story of interconnectedness reminds us that:
    • Your liberation is bound to mine.
    • Your joy amplifies mine.
    • Your pain diminishes mine.
  • What story will you live this week?
  • What story will you tell?
  • How will your story intertwine with the stories of those around you?

Closing: Weaving a New Chapter

• As we leave this sacred space, let us
  • Carry the power of story with us.
  • Listen deeply to the stories of the Earth, the ancestors, and one another.
  • Honor the stories that have shaped us.
  • Release the stories that no longer serve us.
  • Boldly write the next chapter of our lives.
  • Go forth inspired to live fully, listen deeply, and tell the stories that matter.
    • Stories that heal.
    • Stories that uplift.
    • Stories that transform.
  • Remember that in the great unfolding narrative of life, we are both authors and characters.
    • Co-creating a world of beauty, justice, and love.
  • We are the storytellers, the story-keepers, and the storymakers.

“There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.”

— Ursula K. Le Guin

My Storyteller’s Prayer

Adapted from Peninnah Schram

Gods and ancestors, spiritual forces of the universe, listen to my heart and my voice as I stand before you, wanting to tell our story.

Help me to understand and find the right feelings and words with which to transmit the tale.

Make my voice expressive and clear so that the collective wisdom of our people can reach the hearts of those who listen.

May I merit to hear well with my ears and heart.

Keep me from the jealousy of other tellers, and from my jealousy of them, so that we may be able to share and hear each other with open hearts.

Allow me to assume this responsibility as my ancestors did before me—to continue to retell our stories.

Help me to choose my stories wisely and let my words live.

Make me worthy to be a storyteller of our people.