Stories about events that changed people’s lives are a staple in lifestyle magazines, not to mention TV dramas. They also have a long history, including a regular place in religious teaching.

Those stories include God’s calling of Moses and the prophets, Paul’s conversion, the Buddha’s excursions from the palace, and Muhammad’s mission from Gabriel. In the Christian tradition, many of the lives of the saints highlight turning points, as do more earthy stories of people who turned from grog to sobriety.

Encouragement through change

Such stories are encouraging because they whisper to us that our own lives can be changed.

Stories of our contemporaries also take us into their inner lives.

Character revealed through choices

If you are interviewing someone for a position in an organisation that accompanies people doing it hard – the No Hopers Society, for example – you do well to ask them why they were so daft as to forego wealth and status by joining an outfit like this.

Many will respond by telling stories that illuminate their character and their likely fit for the position. These are often more revealing than self-boosting responses to questions about why they think they should be chosen.

Startling honesty

Sometimes responses to such questions startle and even shame the listener.

When asked why she spent her school holiday accompanying children with severe disability, and so giving their parents a break, for example, a teenage girl replied that her brother also has a severe disability.

Stories that inspire hope

In a world where stories of self-interest, resentment, and violence so often dominate the news, stories of lives changed for the better by unexpected situations or events are precious.

They can stir hope.

What’s your story?

• Andrew Hamilton SJ is the consulting editor of Eureka Street and a writer at Jesuit Social Services.