Weltanschauung.

This is one of the best words I’ve learned in seminary. It is very similar to our English word/concept of “worldview” but it embraces more, it is wider and deeper than just “worldview.” It includes not just an individual, group, or culture’s view of the world, but how generations of lived experiences determine that view before them, how they understand their relationship to the universe in terms of their worldview, and that each individual’s worldview is finite. In other words, our worldview is historically conditioned and constantly evolving and it speaks to the condition of being human that is our interdependence, but yet, not one of us has all the answers or the “right” view.

I am a lover of stories- from fairytales, myths, and legends, to new children’s storybooks with deep lessons, to the stories of our personal, human experiences. Stories can touch us, teach us, and change us by offering different experiences and perspectives. Stories themselves can change as they flow through time, space, and cultural context. They can be reinterpreted and they can retain their original values and message for hundreds of years. They are the foundation of the formation of Weltanschauung and that is why we tell stories of all kinds during worship.

But what about outside of worship, throughout the week? What kind of stories do you tell? How do you think they shape the perspective of the person you are telling them to? Do they contribute to the greater good? Think especially about the stories that you tell on social media and in the digital world. As religious ethicist Kate Ott wrote, “Wonder, imagination, and creativity are the genesis of digital technology; they also must be its constant moral companion.” In our worship service this Sunday, we explored how humans created tools and technologies and how our evolution has been entwined with these developments. We coevolve with our technologies. Do we feel called to engage the values of our faith and help guide that evolution? Human creativity can do that and we are all creative humans.

Think about the power of the stories that you tell and how they have the potential to shape both our personal and cultural Weltanschauung. Kate Ott also informs us that “moral growth happens in an individual though it is always in response to another or others.” How can your stories elicit responses of moral growth in yourself and others? What if, sometimes, instead of voicing our opinions with facts and outrage, we invited people into a nourishing, loving environment in which we tell the stories that can connect us on an emotional level, sharing why something means so much to us. Personal Weltanschauung is a hard thing to change. People are resistant to giving up their identity, their relationships, and their worldview–life as they know and see it. We are all resistant to this kind of change. Let that be a source of empathy.

Let us be intentional and compassionate. Tell the stories that can connect, balance, and bring more love to the world. Listen closely to the stories of others that can help shape you in the ways of love. Be a good ancestor (in the digital world). The Weltanschauung of humanity depends on it.