Lights! Camera! Action! Cameras roll. People start talking. Stories go down. Someone becomes a part of recorded history.

Look, I know this is no big deal with today’s technology. You can sit across the table from me and film my story with your cell phone with no prior arrangements being made. That doesn’t lessen the value of the recorded event. It makes it more accessible. Why not fire that phone up more often in the task of spontaneously recording someone’s story? It could turn into a very useful tool in the art of giving people significance.

And that is exactly what we are going to do next week at the Isaiah House: make a big deal of it. With two cinematographers scheduled to film 3-4 minute segments with members of Women of Vision stepping in for Barbara Walters as interviewers, at least two things will happen, maybe three:

1. Women will feel important. Face it. We have a celebrity-conscious society that places a certain value on anyone on the other side of a camera. Whether it’s real or imagined, it’s there, and we plan to take full advantage of this as a way of singling out each Isaiah House guest, because unlike a celebrity, she has an important story to tell. There is a reason to record.

2. Distinctions fall away. We will encourage each woman to tell her story from her heart and through her voice. We will begin by helping to dissipate fear by seeking to give worth and dignity to each woman in the realization that each of our stories truly count, that we have and are making a difference in other people’s lives, and toward the knowledge that we are building a living legacy to leave behind to those around us when we pass from one form of living to another.

3. “I am ready for my close up.” The evening promises to be one of vulnerability, freedom, and tears. Technically we will have to work as a team and present an organize front of encouragement and support through each other and the Lord. There is no clear picture of what the outcome of the evening will look like. Yet I know in my heart that it will far exceed the greatest expectations of Oscar® himself.

What does this mean for the rest of us? We need to be more conscious of being story-seekers. Every one has a story to tell that holds great value. Each story is God’s story in the making.

You and I are great talkers. Marti suggests we become better interviewers. While she is going to help us to discover how best to draw a story from one and other next week, let’s you and I begin this weekend by learning to listen to what others have to say by approaching others with an open heart, asking open-ended questions, perking up our ears attentively, and shutting our mouths.

[What I saw when I first heard of this idea was a couple of iPhones videoing our celebrities. Marti’s eyes are much wider, involving camera crews and their equipment, editing and DVD production. If you want to be an Executive Producer by financing, in part, the filmmaking, please be my guest by indicating “Isaiah House Oscar® Nominations” on your check or where indicated when you donate on line.]