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“The meaning of earthly existence is not, as we have grown used to thinking, in prosperity, but in the development of the soul.” -Alexander Solzhenitsyn
“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.” -Psalm 16:7
“Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.” -Psalm 25:4
“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” -Psalm 119:18
Excerpt from “Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us” by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun:
“In a consumer society it’s easy to accumulate experiences, believing the more we have the better! Yet experiences don’t necessarily bring wisdom, nor do they automatically transform us. We need to listen and reflect on our experiences in the presence of the Holy Spirit to learn from them. Journaling is a way of paying attention to our lives- a way of knitting the vast ball of our experiences into something with shape that attests to the state of our soul. Fredrick Buechner reminds us in Listening to Your Life that “there is no chance thing through which God cannot speak.” 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. Over time repetitious themes, sins, compulsions, hopes and concerns emerge. We begin to recognize our besetting sins, limitations and desires. During times of transition, travel, loss, joy, illness and decision making, journaling can provide a way of processing the hopes, fears, longing, angers and prayers of our heart. It can be the place we sound off before God so we don’t sound in an inappropriate way to others. The ongoing nature of a journal catalogs the journey of a soul into God.
“In a consumer society it’s easy to accumulate experiences, believing the more we have the better! Yet experiences don’t necessarily bring wisdom, nor do they automatically transform us. We need to listen and reflect on our experiences in the presence of the Holy Spirit to learn from them. Journaling is a way of paying attention to our lives- a way of knitting the vast ball of our experiences into something with shape that attests to the state of our soul. Fredrick Buechner reminds us in Listening to Your Life that “there is no chance thing through which God cannot speak.” 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. Over time repetitious themes, sins, compulsions, hopes and concerns emerge. We begin to recognize our besetting sins, limitations and desires. During times of transition, travel, loss, joy, illness and decision making, journaling can provide a way of processing the hopes, fears, longing, angers and prayers of our heart. It can be the place we sound off before God so we don’t sound in an inappropriate way to others. The ongoing nature of a journal catalogs the journey of a soul into God.
Goal for this week: to be alert to life through writing and reflecting on God’s presence and activity in, around and through you.
Other Resources to consider:
An Ordinary Day with Jesus by John Ortberg and Ruth Barton
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life byDonald S. Whitney
An Ordinary Day with Jesus by John Ortberg and Ruth Barton
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life byDonald S. Whitney
*There are no daily questions or specific exercise in journaling this week. Use your journal (a pad of paper, sheets of a paper, etc) as a place for your unedited thoughts, feelings and reactions. Out of this overflow ask the Holy Spirit to form a godly response in you. Write the response you hear from God and speak to him through journaling. Last week was “inhaling,” this week is a concentrated exercise in “exhaling.” It’s an exercise to speak to God and to bring your feelings and thoughts to paper in order to know more fully your relationship with God.
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