A Tale of Two Journals

For the past 7 or 8 years I have kept a journal. When I started I asked a friend how to keep a journal. He said he had kept one for years and didn't really know. He just encouraged me and warned me that it would be difficult at times. No kidding. So I started and wrote at least every week, if not every day. It is at times a travel journal, a vent against injustice, a lament, a joy. It is full of prayers and psalms. It is at times superficial, at times deeply personal. It is hand written, which allows for "slower" thinking. It is not shared.

But this blog tricked me into thinking that I was practicing the spiritual discipline of journaling, which it isn't. This blog is merely musing about the state of affairs around me. My personal journal is one where all the truth and joy and anguish get exposed. It shines the light into the dark corners and chases away the demons. It allows me to be honest about all things "Don" Good, bad, indifferent. In a way, it is a road map of my spiritual travels, an assessment of where I am spiritually, emotionally.

If you do not keep a journal, please start one. It will help you see the recurrent themes in your spiritual walk. It will be a great reminder of triumphs and heartbreak and struggle. You can write whatever you wish, you can explore the wounds of being a husband, father, son, faith member. You can write your own prayers, set in time and space, but ageless in their poignancy. Over time you can see the fingerprints of God on your life and remember that He is there..always. You can write things that you would never say out loud, you can pray things that would never be accepted or understood within a community of faith. You do not have to be a writer, just a follower of the better things in life.

Yes, I keep two journals. One for you, one for me. What will happen to it after I am dead and gone? Shrug. I don't know. I hope my bride and kids and their kids find some value there. I am hoping it will explain the parts of my personality that they never really understood. I hope it buys me some grace here on earth while I am learning about it first hand in the ultimate kingdom.

Godspeed, write it down..live it out.
Don