John Hartford and The Story

This morning I had to run some errands, and I took along a CD I hadn’t listened to in a while. In fact, it’s been so long that I didn’t even have it on my itunes. The CD is by a guy named Gene Goforth, who was a Missouri traditional fiddle player (I know, this doesn’t bode well for the geek-o-meter). It was produced by a guy named John Hartford.


Some of you may know John Hartford. He’s a musician and entertainer. He plays all sorts of instruments, but is best known for his fiddle and banjo work. He was on the Smothers Brothers show (now I’m dating myself) and has recorded numerous albums.

Hartford spent the latter years of his life telling stories. He would find some obscure traditional American musicians, record them if they were still alive, dig up their old recordings if they weren’t, and research their life and music. The end product was a collection of music and stories, some told by the musician, some told by Hartford, all woven into the music.

The end product is fascinating. Besides unbelievably great music, the untold story of these people’s lives unfolds in word and music. It’s a great look into the life and music of an era and people that is all but extinct in modern culture.

This morning while I was listening, something hit me. I am John Hartford. So are you. We’ve dedicated our lives to telling God’s story in a culture where his fame and glory are relatively unknown. We tell this story in different ways. Some of us tell it to youth, some of us share it with adults. Some of us sing this story, others of us preach it, and still others weave it into our activities and our lifestyles.

The cool thing about Hartford is that he knew so many of the musicians whose story he told. His story became intertwined with theirs. That fact made the stories so much more real, interesting, and relevant.

Our story is also intertwined with God’s story. We are right smack in the middle of it, living it and telling it. We play a part in this wonderful story, and we get to tell it. We are every bit the story crafter that John Hartford is, and our story is so much more important.

How is your storytelling? Do you represent your subject well? How are you teaching others to be storytellers?

Here’s to the story of God, and here’s to your storytelling…



Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,

Matt