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Story 1:
I was at Men’s Bible study yesterday, when our pastor started sharing a story. He said someone came to him and said they felt they were ready to disciple others. In the story, our pastor turned to the young man and said, “Show me your journal.”
The point being, one of the signs of someone maturing in their faith is shown through the practice of spiritual disciplines; such as in the use of a journal during their quiet time.
Story 2:
Several years ago I started hosting a writer’s group. I was hoping for a group of people who were writers looking for critique and desiring eventual publication. Instead I had a room full of folks who all thought the idea of writing would be a good one, but hadn’t really started the process. Therefore, they turned to me and asked, “Where do we start?”
I left that meeting without having provided a clear answer. Based on that specific group of “writers”, I went off and did some research before the next meeting. Most of the would-be writers wanted to take personal experience and share it in words for others. I returned to the next meeting and said to them, “Show me your journal.”
Conclusion:
Because of that writer’s group I wound up writing a book on Journaling and have it in it’s fourth draft. On the flip side I haven’t been journaling myself much lately. I do consider this blog to be part of my journaling practice. At the same time, this blog has a specific focus and doesn’t reflect all the other events in my life that need to be captured in words to paper.
Today, I dusted off my journal and started reading through some of the entries. Wow! How easy it is to forget the events and epiphanies documented in one’s journal. How necessary it is to write down these events and epiphanies, so we can reflect on them later.
My journal is getting a new entry tonight. Partly because I have things to journal about. Mostly, because a journal is one sign of a being a writer and I need to write!