Tonight we begin our practice of spiritual, prayerful journaling. The “Mother” or chief source of this practice is Julian of Norwich, a famous mystic fromthe 1300’s, who wrote about her ecstatic experiences and encounters with God in prayer. But in another sense, anyone and everyone who has ever written about their relationship with God invites us into this practice. There is something about writing, particularly when in a silent, prayerful state, that puts us in touch with the Divine.
After a time of contemplation, silence, or prayer, it is often the act and discipline of writing about the experience that can lead us to greater clarity or understanding of it. But before we can begin the actual practice of journaling tonight, we need to address three specific barriers that can undercut and get in the way of this particular practice.
First, we THINK that the efficacy of this journaling practice must somehow be contingent on our writing ability…People say, “But I’m not a very good writer…I can’t do this discipline well.” Let me assure you that the value of this practice has absolutely nothing to do with our writing ability, nothing to do with our spelling, our grammar, nor our ability to come up with the “right” or best word. What matters about our writing is ONLY that writing cultivates two essential prayer skills – listening and noticing…And in this practice, as with all the others we’ve worked on, when we incline our ear to that still small voice of God, it may become more recognizable or audible through the discipline itself, in tonight’s case in and through the words that we are inspired to write.
A second huge and intimidating barrier that can undercut our buying into this particular practice is the notion people have that it’s already been done by people far more competent than we are. We already have the Bible and the Gita and the Koran. God has already spoken through others, hasn’t He? So what could I possible add to this divine conversation? My response to this reservation is definitive and clear…If God ISN’T still speaking, ISN’T still inspiring, then what are we doing here? What are we doing in churches and religious communities? If everything God has to say has already been said and already written, then what are we doing here and why don’t we just hunker down in some library or monastery somewhere and do nothing but read God’s old words? But IF we believe – TRULY believe - in a LIVING God, a LIVING, BREATHING Spirit, an OPERATIVE life force, then shouldn’t our lives be about seeking to hear THAT voice today, tonight? Friends, this is one of the key factors that led me OUT of the institutional forms of Christian practice, the fact that I didn’t feel Christians gave adequate attention to seeking to hear and respond to that LIVING voice, that PRESENCE here and now. That’s what I’m here for. That’s exactly why I started this Living Vision community and what I want the rest of my spiritual life to be all about, and I’m thrilled that you’re here with me in these kinds of endeavors.
The third barrier I want us to acknowledge is one that may actually be at play in ALL of the spiritual practices we’ve done and will do. We may NOT really want to hear directly from God because we may not trust Him. We may, deep down, still be clinging to a sense that God doesn’t love us, doesn’t accept us and is going to be harsh and condemning with us IF He comes to speak to us. If we are afraid of God and still carry that child-like view that God is somehow angry with us or disappointed with us, we are likely to shut out His voice or at least prefer NOT to hear it in whatever form in comes to us. To this barrier and perspective I can only say what the writer of letters of John said in the Xn New Testament. “God is love.” Love is the essence of God’s nature. We must learn to trust both that God IS love AND that we ARE LOVED. We’ve got to trust that we ARE God’s own children, that we are loved with a love that surpasses even our love for our kids.
So tonight and in the next two Tuesdays, we’ll try three different approaches to journaling, in hopes that at least one of the three will really resonate with your heart and spirit. Each is designed to tune us in more closely to the living Spirit we call God.
1) We’ll begin tonight by telling God our intention to be in God’s presence and to listen for His voice. Reminding ourselves and God of that intention and stating it is important in ALL our disciplines.
2) Then we just begin writing thoughts and feelings we have about or in relation to God. They might be questions we have. They might be spiritual struggles we’re in the midst of. Anything that’s about God and your relationship with Him, as opposed to journaling about the days events or what your schedule is for tomorrow. There’s no real right or wrong here, but try to stick to your intention to write what’s on your heart or mind right now IN RELATION to God.
3) Then we pause. We wait. We look at and read over what we’ve written and we restate silently our intention to be in God’s presence and listen to Him.
4) If in this listening/waiting phase, we feel the desire to write more – by all means do so! This could be God’s nudging and way of conversing. The rhythm may be one of writing a little, listening and waiting a little, writing a little more, re-reading and listening a little more.
So let’s begin and see where this journaling exercise leads us….We’ll start with a chunk of about 20 minutes tonight. I’ll begin by offering a little prayer of intention for us, which you can follow up on in your own way as you begin…
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