Stories

I recently went to a weekend retreat at my church where one of the evenings ended with a time of people sharing thanks for what has happened in their lives over the time that they have been involved at the church. When I look back at all the stories that were shared, what amazes me most was the differences in each story. Each one was different and it gave me a stronger sense of how good God truely is. If a person were to get critical, they may try to allign the stories in a coherent and systematic way and would then devalue them as they found that the various stories put together might contradict one another in places. Hoever, this was my favorite part of the evening. People didn't care that one person's way of telling what God had done in their life might not line up logicaly with what another person said God had done in their life. All together, people were seemed thankful that we had a collection of stories about lives being changed.
What keeps us from viewing theology more like this?
Why can't theology be stories about what God has done and is doing without the need to make a system inevitably leading to the exclusion of others? On Saturday night, no one said "Your story does not correlate well with the story told previous to you". No one said "your story is invalid because it problematises mine". Can we not view the broader and abstract human stories of different "theologies" with the same grace and rejoicing as these more personal human stories? I hope we thank God that our church has great numbers of people who can share their specific stories of how they expiance that God is good and different ways. If a church is going to have an abstract story called theology, why can't it be one that leaves room for different expressions of how many ways God is good?