Want a Better Life (and a Better World)? Choose Your Framing Story Wisely

I was talking with a friend about last week’s horrific attack on the United States capitol. We shared how we both felt shocked and ashamed of the actions taken by fellow Americans, by fellow human beings. I don’t think we’re alone in asking, ‘How have we come to this? As a country? As a species?’

I believe part of the answer lies in what “framing story” we listen to, what we tell ourselves about the world, what we choose to believe. The framing story that President Trump is telling is that he is the arbiter of truth and that we should believe his version of reality – that the election was stolen from him – without evidence.

A significant number of my fellow Americans have chosen to adopt his framing story as their way of seeing the world. This can shape not only their beliefs but their actions. The power of a framing story is so great that it has lead some people, probably reasonable in other areas of their lives, to violently storm the U.S. capitol, causing death and destruction in what they believe is a righteous cause.

Lest you think I’m only throwing stones, I realize that my own house is made of glass. There have definitely been times in my life that I have let my own delusions and false perceptions and rationalizations distort my view of reality. It’s a pitfall I must continually fight to avoid.

All of us have a framing story for our lives and the world, one we apply consciously and subconsciously everyday. It shapes our thoughts, feelings, choices, and behaviors. And it has a huge impact not only on the direction and quality of our own lives but on all of humanity. As author and teacher Brian McLaren writes:

“If it [our framing story] tells us that the purpose of life is for individuals or nations to accumulate an abundance of possessions and to experience the maximum amount of pleasure during the maximum number of minutes of our short lives, then we will have little reason to manage our consumption. If our framing story tells us that we are in life-and-death competition with each other . . . then we will have little reason to seek reconciliation and collaboration and nonviolent resolutions to our conflicts. . . .

But if our framing story tells us that we are free and responsible creatures in a creation made by a good, wise, and loving God, and that our Creator wants us to pursue virtue, collaboration, peace, and mutual care for one another and all living creatures, and that our lives can have profound meaning if we align ourselves with God’s wisdom, character, and dreams for us . . . then our society will take a radically different direction, and our world will become a very different place.”

Brian D. McLaren, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope (Thomas Nelson: 2007), 68, 67

Personally, I have chosen the latter story. That God exits. That God is good. That I can know and be known, love and be loved by God. Very imperfectly, I try to live out of that framing story everyday. It has served me well through many seasons for over forty years. That said, I completely understand and respect that my particular framing story is not the preferred choice for many.

So what is your framing story? What lens do you use to look at yourself and the world? Know that you have the power to choose. Choose wisely. Few things will have a greater influence on the quality and direction of your life. When in doubt between differing stories, examine them both closely. Consider them soberly. Weigh your experience. Pursue Truth. If that still leaves you uncertain, chose the more hopeful, the more generous, the more beautiful story. Live out of it as best you can. If you do, you’ll make the world a better place and take another step toward Becoming Yourself.