Although "story" and "narrative" are frequently mentioned in Voegelin's account of the structure and dynamics of human consciousness, neither he nor his commentators have closely analyzed in a direct fashion the importance of these terms to that account. This article examines their significance to Voegelin's extended analysis.But theoria suggests taking a view of a large stretch of territory from a considerable distance, and this is just what the people I shall be discussing do. They all specialize in standing back from, and taking a large view of, what Heidegger called the "tradition of Western metaphysics"-what I have been calling the "Plato-Kant canon."The items in this canon, the works of the great metaphysicians, are the classic attempts to see everything steadily and see it whole. The metaphysicians attempt to rise above the plurality of appearances in the hope that, seen from the heights, an unexpected unity will become evident-a unity which is a sign that something real has been glimpsed, something which stands behind the appearances and produces them.Richard Rorty, Contingency, Irony, Solidarity I am not a trained historian, but I am an American Mennonite hunting for workable fragments from our experience, partly because the rest of the world-before it considers me anything (female, Christian, Mennonite, mother, student of literature, writer)-considers me an American. So I must examine my Mennonite roots in the context of the American soil in which they have taken nourishment these past three hundred years. As a person particularly interested in storytelling and the force of storytelling among my people, I want a history that will "see life steadily and see it whole," a view of our past from which good fiction, good philosophy, good theology, good poetry, good art and good deeds can grow. Joyce Clemmer Munro, "Passing on the Torch,"The Mennonite Quarterly ReviewMy thanks to Barry Cooper, Clarence Sills, Stuart Warner, and the several anonymous referees and the Editor of this journal for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.