I used to be one of those people who griped about "storymonies." Then last night I remembered a bishop I had as a teenager--one who, years before I discovered any smidgen of liberal "rebellion" in myself, rubbed me the wrong way when he sat in on our Girls' Camp testimony meeting, telling us specifically what we should and should not say, and ending the meeting long before we were done. (He was as literal, by-the-book, and strict as they come--both as a bishop and as a person--and even as the Molly Mormon I was, we didn't get along.)
So now I'm just wondering--how meaningful can you really expect testimonies to be if they're only a bunch of stock phrases? Those rambling stories that make everyone roll their eyes are also the things that make a testimony personal. You can only hear "I know the church is true" so many times before the words kind of start to lose significance, you know? I just think sometimes we're too concerned with ceremony in the church, and I think this is one of those times.
I think there's definitely a balance. I've heard people use stories to tell about how their testimony was strengthened, and it's always more effective for me than just repeating the points that you "should" include. However, I have a harder time with it when people take 20 minutes telling a story that doesn't really bring the spirit (like the so-called "travelogues" they're always cautioning against) and I think those are the people who should try to avoid storymonies. (When I was growing up, we had a guy who got up for half an hour every month and told us we shouldn't eat meat and told us about all of the general authorities he'd met. Name-dropping and false doctrine do not a testimony make.) Personal experiences with the gospel are what help us to build our testimonies, and I think in the right spirit, sharing those experiences can help others have an idea of how to build their testimonies.
ReplyDeleteOy, I know what you mean. The thing about that, though, is that the people who DO need to be told to shut up are also the people who ignore being told to shut up. So you end up with anyone who shares any kind of personal story feeling guilty, or like they have to be as succinct as humanly possible and prove the relevance of their comments--and you still have to listen to the twenty-minute name-dropping. It's kind of a lose/lose, I think.
ReplyDeleteIn our ward they say, "testimonies or faith promoting stories." I think thankamonies are pretty bad too, when a person starts listing off people in the ward who have helped them.
ReplyDeleteOoh, yes Liz. In a way, that almost seems like another version of the name-dropping thing; not because the people are famous, but just because people like to feel loved, and maybe to revel in it a little bit. :)
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