Mr Warne gives an example of the types of conflict…

He writes: This example really happened. The Indian teacher, Sundar Singh trudged his way through a snowy blizzard in the mountains of Tibet. He met another traveller. Together they plodded on until they found another man who had collapsed in the snow. He was exhausted; he couldn’t walk; but he was alive. Sundar Singh wanted to stop and pick up the sick man. His companion refused.

“We’re going to be lucky to get to a village as we are. Carrying him would slow us down completely. Look at him. He’s almost dead. Don’t be a fool. If you carry him, it won’t be long before you’re in the same state he is. Come on. Keep moving.”

(Up until now it has been a story of man against the forces of nature. Sundar Singh has been fighting his way to safety against bad weather. Now comes a struggle with his conscience.)

Sundar Singh believed his companion was right…His companion gave him a last urgent plea to keep him moving and walked on. The sick man groaned.

Sundar Singh lived his life in obedience to a Lord who said, “Treat others exactly the way you like to be treated. Love others as I have loved you.” To obey Jesus could cost him his life. He knelt in the snow, lifted the man onto his back, and staggered to his feet. Slowly he started a perilous journey to find safety. As he gasped for breath and struggled for footholds, how many times did Sundar Singh’s aching limbs tell him to drop his burden? What happened? Well, they both lived to tell the story. They were saved by their body heat keeping them both warm and alive. The other traveller was found dead in the snow. He’d wanted to save his life and lost it. Sundar Singh, willing to lose his life, saved it.

-See The Magic of Story-Telling, How to write and tell good stories, by Clifford Warne. ANZEA publishers, 1971.