Once upon a time—a sunny day this October, to be precise—the aroma of fried dough and sausages floated on the air as Tim Lowry stepped out onto a stage.

Place: Jonesborough, Tennessee 

Event: the National Storytelling Festival

Mr. Lowry wears a seersucker suit and a brightly patterned bowtie. He waves a fan with a design like the American flag.

A hush falls over the crowd. And it’s a big crowd. Why have these hundreds of people come here? And why do they all sit so quietly?

Because a story is about to start. A story about Mr. Lowry’s babysitter, Pam. 

Mr. Lowry sets the story up. In this story, he’s just six years old. His father has hung a cabinet in their house. His mother has placed her collection of salt and pepper shakers on the shelves—at least 50 sets of salt and pepper shakers—and warns her kids never to touch them.

While Pam is babysitting, she notices that one of the salt and pepper shakers has turned around backwards. The kids know why this has happened: Workers are blasting into the mountain across town to build a new highway. This makes the house shake and wobble. The salt and pepper shakers shift too.

“What we did not know,” says Mr. Lowry from stage, “is that all the blasting had loosened the hook on the wall that the entire cabinet was hanging from—” 

The audience groans, afraid of what’s coming next.

“—and all of a sudden the whole cabinet just fell off in Pam’s arms.”

The audience gasps!

“And salt and pepper shakers fell out and shattered into a thousand pieces.” 

It’s a small story—one of many Mr. Lowry has told over his 25 years as a professional storyteller. And his listeners are captivated. The story is so well told, they feel like they’re part of it.

Why? God is the greatest storyteller. We live in the very good story He has made. When we tell good stories, we’re acting like Him.