Princesses and Prophets

"When I was a kid growing up, my grandmother lived with us,and one of her things was to make sure that I went to bed at night. So she would tell me stories. I wanted to hear Snow White and Cinderella, but she'd always say, 'I can only tell you something that's true.' And so she would tell me the stories of Joseph Smith and the pioneers." --Susan Easton Black

Sometimes, for short spurts of time, life will continually give me a theme to ponder. And sometimes, that theme comes from a media source, with little treasures popping up when I least expect them to. This was such a time. 

I was on Facebook one day, and I stumbled across a New York Times article that someone had posted about how storytelling brings families together and makes them more resilient. The ideas it gave resonated with me. But I soon forgot about it as I went about my daily life, racing my deadlines. 

About a week later, I was reading a random Deseret News article, when I got hit with the idea again. It was the quote you see above, by Susan Easton Black (who is an amazing teacher!) My thoughts immediately went to Dr. Coyne's study on princesses, and how so many girls love and aspire to be like the cartoon princesses.

I wondered. What if we spent as much time teaching our daughters (and sons) about real stories of real people? About our ancestors who faced challenges? About the people we admire? Would our little children have a better sense of who they are? Would they be more resilient and feel more bonded with their families? Would they be stronger for it?

I've never been a very good storyteller, and so I never thought much about the significance of the stories we tell. But as I think about people like Susan Easton Black, whose inspirational career and love of church history was fostered by her grandmother's bedtime stories in her early years, I begin to rethink my paradigm.