God Calling
In previous posts, we have talked together about the different ways God makes His presence known to us. Some of the ways God has “called” us is through scripture, our conscience, divine inspiration, and the created world.
Through faith filled prayer, we have begun to discern how God may want for us to live our lives. Our current 12 days of Christmas is an excellent time for us to explore some other ways to allow God to draw us closer to Him.
Spiritual journaling is a practice some people find very helpful. Many of our greatest Catholic saints and mystics kept journals. It is a wonderful way to “reflect on paper” not only about the good times, but also the bad times. Journaling helps us slow down our thoughts and give them order. If we become tired or distracted in the middle of our prayers, writing them down can help bring a bit of order to our disorder.
As part of the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (SEEL), we kept a spiritual journal. Sometimes I drew pictures or wrote in a bit of Scripture I found to be of particular help. Over time, I discovered I was able to look back and see the times God was working in my life even when I thought He had deserted me.
How you journal is up to you. There is no right or wrong way to record your thoughts. Any book you are comfortable with will work. Some may prefer something grand like a leather bound book, while others will prefer a Snoopy notebook from the five and dime. This is your journey so embark on it however you please.
So why the picture of the pen? That pen was my Mom’s most prized possession. My Mom died 26 years ago and the pen was missing for many years. I located it quite by accident many years after her death. I’ve used it for years now to write in my spiritual journal, but recently it became apparent that some major repair work had to be done.
In previous posts, we have talked together about the different ways God makes His presence known to us. Some of the ways God has “called” us is through scripture, our conscience, divine inspiration, and the created world.
Through faith filled prayer, we have begun to discern how God may want for us to live our lives. Our current 12 days of Christmas is an excellent time for us to explore some other ways to allow God to draw us closer to Him.
Spiritual journaling is a practice some people find very helpful. Many of our greatest Catholic saints and mystics kept journals. It is a wonderful way to “reflect on paper” not only about the good times, but also the bad times. Journaling helps us slow down our thoughts and give them order. If we become tired or distracted in the middle of our prayers, writing them down can help bring a bit of order to our disorder.
As part of the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (SEEL), we kept a spiritual journal. Sometimes I drew pictures or wrote in a bit of Scripture I found to be of particular help. Over time, I discovered I was able to look back and see the times God was working in my life even when I thought He had deserted me.
How you journal is up to you. There is no right or wrong way to record your thoughts. Any book you are comfortable with will work. Some may prefer something grand like a leather bound book, while others will prefer a Snoopy notebook from the five and dime. This is your journey so embark on it however you please.
So why the picture of the pen? That pen was my Mom’s most prized possession. My Mom died 26 years ago and the pen was missing for many years. I located it quite by accident many years after her death. I’ve used it for years now to write in my spiritual journal, but recently it became apparent that some major repair work had to be done.
I sent it off to Main Street Pens, and to the able ministrations of Ron Zorn and his lovely wife Robyn. I received it back just days before Christmas, and it was like a new pen. If you are a lover of fountain pens, please keep Ron in mind for your pen repairs. He also has some beautiful pens for sale – I’m already lusting after some of them.
5 comments:
When I first came back to The Church, I journaled about the daily readings. I've gotten away from that, but looking over my journal entries, I realized how good my questions to myself were. I may have to re-think and continue journaling again in 08.
Adrienne, when God calls you does He call collect? (Old Catholic joke; God's phone number is: Et-Cum-Spiri-2-2-O) LOL
This is good advice, Adrienne. We kept a journal in the seminary, the Ira Progoff version, and it was most helpful. Those patterns in our our life which are part of our 'becoming' are sometimes elusive and temporary (ike smoke rings) and getting them on paper helps them have their say. They 'emerge' then, they are, so to speak, 'grateful' to us for listening and taking them seriously, our thoughts, our feelings, and even our dreams, and we move forward more quickly.
Father John - I tried Progoff but I found it too complicated for my ADD brain. All those little sections drove me nuts. I could never decide where to write what I wanted to write so I just didn't write at all. LOL
AA - Oh gosh - I remember that joke. Are we dating ourselves, or what????
Paulab52 -- I been slacking off on my journaling, too!!
I like the idea of journalling the daily readings. I am not very good at reading the bible every day and this would be a great way to do that.
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