A Lenten Reflection - Journaling
For as long as I can remember I have loved pens, pencils, notebooks and writing. While I didn’t always enjoy returning to school after summer break, I did enjoy shopping for new school supplies with my mom. Fresh notebooks, pens and pencils along with a new Trapper Keeper and pencil case often took away the sting of summer break ending and school starting. This appreciation for school supplies continued into college and seminary. To this day, I still enjoy putting pen to paper and prefer to plan worship and draft documents. There is something satisfying about the glide of the pen across the page as ideas come to life and are recorded.
I guess it was natural that I adopted journaling as a spiritual discipline decades ago. Journaling as a devotional practice has long been used by Christians to record and reflect upon the developments in their spiritual life and relationship with God. The class theological work for St. Augustine known as his Confessions may have begun with his journals. The father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, journaled inductively through the scriptures and encouraged his students to do the same. The Anglican priest, Oxford professor and founder of Methodism, John Wesley, kept a meticulous journal for most of his adult life. In it he recorded every detail of his life as well as his reflections on his relationship with God. He wrote so much in his journal that he developed a unique coded shorthand that no one could read until Dr. Richard Heitzenrater, (one of my seminary professors) cracked the code and unlocked them for us to read.
Over the years, I have found journaling to be a wonderful way to cultivate a posture of self-reflection as I think through the events of each day, and recognize and record the ebb and flow of my emotional and spiritual life. As I write, I often become more aware of the movements of God in my life and notice the subtle and not-so-subtle directional guidance that the Lord is providing me. In short, my journal helps me pay close attention to the workings of God in my life. The simple act of slowing down and writing helps me to cut through the distractions of life and focus on God.
In the season of Lent we have been exploring the practices that could foster spiritual growth in the hopes that you might find a new tool that would help you to grow in your relationship with God. Journaling could be one of those spiritual practices that helps connect you with God more deeply.
To help get you started I’d like to share some practical tips for spiritual journaling that from a wonderful article on Crosswalk (Whitney Hopler: “How to Encounter God Through Journaling,” Crosswalk, August 1, 2008):
Begin with prayer. Invite God to use your journaling experiences to draw you closer to Him and help you grow as a person.
Get ready. Decide when and where you’ll journal regularly. Choose any time or place that works best for you – from early morning journaling in a quiet room of your home, to late night journaling in a busy coffeehouse. Then buy a journal that appeals to you for writing your journal entries by hand, or set up a special file on your computer to type in your journal entries.
Give yourself freedom. Allow yourself to write or draw whatever comes to your mind. Don’t criticize or censor your journal entries. Don’t worry about trying to stick to grammar or spelling rules, trying to be logical, comparing yourself to others, or avoiding the expression of troubling thoughts or feelings. Write what’s true and real, keeping in mind that God loves you unconditionally.
Face your fears. Don’t let a desire to avoid your fears keep you from journaling honestly about whatever you’re thinking and feeling. Ask God to give you the courage to write about each of your fears openly, and expect that, as you do, God will meet you in the middle of them and help you grow.
Honor your story. Use your journal as a place to get to know more about yourself and befriend yourself, remembering that your identity is rooted in the fact that God made you and loves you. Notice when you’ve thought negatively about yourself, and start to write positively about yourself in your journal. Learn how to bless yourself by describing yourself in positive ways.
Mine beneath the surface of your life. Go deeper than just recording events in your journal. Aim to express your reactions to the events you experience, writing meaningful thoughts and feelings you have rather than just what’s happened lately in your life. Pray about the various parts of your life – your family and friends, your work, your health, etc. – and ask God to show you what He would like you to reflect on more deeply in your journal.
Reflect on the past. Ask God to shed His light on your past to help you see it from His perspective. List some things for which you’re thankful, and write a prayer of gratitude to God. As you reflect on your past, pray for discernment about what you need to let go of and what you need to hold on to.
Look forward. Use your journal to imagine your future. Ask God to help you consider what seeds you’re planting in your own life and the lives of those around you – seeds that will produce good fruit, or seeds that will lead to bad results. Think of a particular concern you have, and write about your feelings as you’re waiting to see how God will answer your prayers about it. Write down your questions for God and wait about a week, listening for any answers you might receive. Then, after the week is over, write down any new insights you now have about the situation.
These are just a few suggestions. The important thing is to let your journal be what you need it to be to reflect honestly on your life and relationship with God.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor John