Journaling

"On the pages of a journal, in the privacy of a moment, we can take tentative steps into truth and scour our feelings, hurts, ideas and struggles before God." (p.  57 Spiritual Disciplines Handbook)

I will admit, I added journaling to the list for this summer because it is one of my favorite ways of working out my thoughts, prayers, and the ups and downs of all of my life, not just the spiritual. Not all journals are the same, just as not all people are the same. For some, journaling is writing long prose about how they are doing and what is going on in their lives. For others, journaling is making lists of activities and their consequences, or series of pictures or words tied together in personal meaning. Today, art journals or Bible art journaling are trendy activities. I have multiple journals for different aspects of my life and different kinds of creative moods.

However, journaling is not only the process of writing or creating art, but also the process of reflecting on the writing or art created. Real journaling goes back over what has been writing or created before and looks for patterns or trends to see what is going on in our lives which we might not fully realize. In many ways, like the examen, it is in the reflecting back on what we have done, seen, heard, written, or created that we find where God has been at work in our lives. While it is lovely to be able to feel and know God's presence in the moment as it happens, many times we start with coming to know God in hindsight, looking back over what has happened to us. What have you created lately?