Food for Thought: Finding Resonance

“Nancy Duarte starts her book Resonate by describing a simple phenomenon in physics called "resonance." Resonance occurs when the frequency of an object's natural vibration responds to an external stimulus of the same frequency. Duarte then describes her son's salt experiment. He put grains of salt on a plate and created complex patterns when amplified sound waves traveled through it. Connecting to the right frequency caused the salt to move into beautiful patterns with each grain moving to where it naturally belonged. You can watch an example of the salt experiment on YouTube. The Art & Science of Storytelling, an interview with Nancy Duarte -CEB Talent Angle with Scott Engler

We are all familiar with the phenomena of vibrations being felt while listening to music. We might get chills or gooseflesh when a certain frequency resonates with us. On the other hand, when someone says something, and we say, “That resonates with me.” We mean that they have said something we can relate to or agree with.

Those who wish to connect with people need to find resonance with their audience. For Christian leaders that means finding a way to make the salvation story relevant and relatable. To do that, some pastors and missionaries try to find an illustration or story that causes their congregation or potential proselytes to identify with the characters in the story. He or she might use a story about people in similar circumstances to those listening. Appealing to the emotions of the listeners may cause them to recognize themselves in the subject(s) in the story.

Jesus used this technique when he tailored His parables to help his disciples and others identify with his message. The parable of the lost coin is easy for even modern-day listeners to identify with.

“What woman having ten pieces of silver, if she loses one piece, does not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she finds it?” Luke 15:8 We would all sweep the house to find a valuable coin?

What seems implied here is that a soul that is precious in the sight of God may be lost, even in the Christian church, which is for the time being the visible house of God. Like the woman Jesus searches for us, if we are lost, even temporarily. The story assures us of that.