Follow Me: Reflections on Internalizing, Embodying, And Performing the Gospel of Mark (Critical Essay‪)‬

I have been around "church folk" most of my life. I have received seminary degrees twice and am now an adjunct professor at two. As a director of Christian education and then a freelance biblical storyteller/ workshop leader/retreat facilitator, I have spent the past twenty-two years amidst a variety of denominational settings around the globe. My closest friends and most treasured colleagues are members of the Network of Biblical Storytellers (www. nbsint.org). Throughout all those relationships and experiences, I've developed a fairly good sense for the Bible MVPs (Most Valued Pericopes). And there are people who even have a special place in their heart for an entire book of the Bible. This seems to be especially true when it comes to the Gospels. Many women tend to gravitate to the inclusiveness of Luke; the Sermon on the Mount and the Kingdom of Heaven parables in Matthew speak profoundly to others; and John's sophistication attracts a different type. Over the years I have frequently asked people, point blank, what their favorite Gospel is; and almost never has the reply been "Mark." Prior to my in-depth work with that particular Gospel, I am not sure I would have chosen it either. But I can now say, with utmost fervor, that Mark is "da man!" I am not just a storyteller by vocation; I am a storyteller by personality. I have been accused of not being able to say "hello" in less than a thousand words! Mind you, I am not saying this is preferable; on the contrary, over the years, I have striven to reign in my verbosity and only share what is pertinent. Mark has this discipline down pat; and it is perhaps what I find most attractive about this Gospel. As an interpreter of these words, I am struck by the fact that, since Mark has cut out all the fat, almost every one of his spare words matters and is important. This is an interpretive challenge, on the one hand, but also a creative delight. And, arguably, it begs the question as to whether the expansions of Mark's stories by Matthew and Luke are improvements. I am not sure that they are Mark's succinctness offers a good general life lesson: sometimes less really is more.