It has been said that there are 100 Inuit ways to talk of snow. While the actual number is closer to 50, that's still about 40 more variations than I can easily name for the semi-solid white precipitation that falls in the winter. Depending on your context, one word (or sign) may be plenty. But just as one root sign can have multiple nuanced meanings, one spoken word can have multiple signs. Here are are few examples:
If I say the word "cross," what comes to mind? If you are Christian, you may name the cross as a symbol of crucifixion. However, if you are angry, you might be cross. It's important to look both ways before you cross the street. When giving directions, you might look for an intersection, or crossroads, to make a turn. In ASL, each of these words has a different sign.
In English spoken storytelling, "baptize" or "baptism" is the same, regardless of whether you pour, sprinkle, or immerse. Signed versions are more specific to a tradition. In telling the story of Jesus' baptism, how does John do the baptism? What about when the Ethiopian eunuch requests to be baptized by Philip in Acts 8? When Peter orders the believers in Caesarea to be baptized, what form does that take? Baptism is an easy sign and could be incorporated into telling a story, but which sign will you use? If I say the word baptism, everyone hears it in their own context. If I sign it, I convey a particular understanding and view that may not be the same as how audience members see it. That is both an opportunity and a challenge.
"Bless" can take the form of a spoken blessing. Words come from the mouth and extend to a person or people. But a blessing may also involve touch, a laying on of hands. When God blesses creation in Genesis 1, is it a spoken blessing, similar to God speaking creation into being? Is the blessing more intimate, like God forming creation in Genesis 2? In Genesis 12:1-3, when God promises to make Abram's name great and to make him a blessing, are these words Abram hears, or is this something Abram feels as well? Is this blessing similar to the physically close blessing Issac gives to Jacob? In telling these stories, bless is an important word. If you accompany it with a sign, you are making a choice about how the blessing is given and how it is received.
The choices you make help to reveal deeper meanings of the story for you as the teller and for the audience. Choices about theological terms/religious signs can serve to draw a community together or can spark conversation about how different members understand theological concepts. If there are opportunities for feedback after a story, a storyteller might choose to have a dialogue about how a sign influences understanding of the broader story.
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