Shakespeare knew a lot
about human nature

Speaking of Religion
The Rev. Dr. Tim Griffin

All the world is a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts. — Shakespeare

We are great storytellers and playwrights. Our lives are organized and held together by internal soliloquies that shape our understanding of ourselves and of reality.
Part of our stories are inherited and passed down to us by parents, teachers, religious authorities and so on. These aspects of our stories generally tell us who we are and where we belong and why. For better or worse they inform us of what we can or should expect from our lives.
For example, part of the story I inherited tells me that I am from the working class and as a consequence things will often be arranged by the wealthier and more powerful in ways that are contrary to what I would like. Thus, according to this part of my script, I am a product of circumstances, and in particular, a product of the class into which I was born.
Of course this story may or may not be accurate — much of what happens in our world is certainly dictated by prejudices of one sort or another. But the important point is not simply whether it is accurate. The important point is whether I believe it. This is, after all, part of my script, and I can play the part quite convincingly.
We construct other aspects of our stories as we lead our lives. For example, I may be convinced that so-and-so does not like me or has slighted me or wishes me ill, etc. As with the inherited portion of my story, this may be accurate or not. The important point is whether I believe it because that will determine how I play my part.
Shakespeare was well aware of our propensity to tell ourselves stories about our lives. It is, after all, this propensity that enables us to follow the story lines of plays, novels and television programs. That is, if we were not storytellers ourselves, narratives would have no meaning for us. We understand drama, tragedy, comedy, suspense, and so on because we tell stories to ourselves about ourselves that contain all of these elements.
That is part of the human condition. Nor is it something we should strive to avoid. First of all, we cannot avoid it. It is simply part of nature. Second, and more importantly, it is useful. These small dramas and comedies that we create for ourselves are critical for our lives because they enable us to make sense of our world and of who we are.
These facts notwithstanding, all religious traditions warn us not to take our stories too seriously. We need these stories, and we cannot lead a human life without them. But we should also recognize that our stories confine and limit our freedom in important ways if we allow them to dominate us.
And we should recognize, moreover, that we can transcend our stories. We can see them for what they are — stories that we tell ourselves that may or may not be true. When we adopt this stance towards our stories, we are much freer to ad lib and to step outside of the boxes into which we have crammed ourselves.
From this perspective, we can gain greater insight into our true nature — not our nature as hero or heroine of our own drama but our nature as connected to other human beings and indeed to the whole of the created order. We can begin to see this because it is our stories that tell us that we are different and separate from everyone else. So as we begin to deconstruct our stories, we deconstruct the myth of difference and separation as well.
Of course, we will never be without stories. It is, as I noted, part of our nature to tell stories — so much so that we often do so unwillingly.
However, with effort and attentiveness we can see through these stories by recognizing them for what they are. In this way we can gain freedom from their dominance by altering how we react to them. ••
Father Tim Griffin is priest-in-charge at the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, at 1946 Welsh Road in Bustleton.