Anyone ever kept a "Spiritual Journal"?

[RainbowSprinkles]

I'm thinking of going on a spiritual journey by writing it all down. I'm confused and I think writing it all out will help me sort through a lot stuff.

I want to really dig deep and look at different "faiths" or "religions" and just find my way.

 

If you have done something like this, has it helped you? I'm really longing for clarity and contentment in what I believe..

 

ETA: If you been on something similar to this, what have you done to help you sort through it all? What has helped you; prayer, meditation, books, other resources? Were are you in your journey?

Edited March 6, 2012 by RainbowSprinkles

[Georgiana Daniels]

I have something similar, suggested to me by a pastor's wife when I was having issues with my prayer life. I started by recoding prayers, and now I record scriptures that pop out to me, answered prayers, and anything to do with where I am spiritually.

 

Full disclosure: I'm not great at keeping up with it, but I can look back now and see some true value in sorting out my thoughts.

[RainbowSprinkles]

I have something similar, suggested to me by a pastor's wife when I was having issues with my prayer life. I started by recoding prayers, and now I record scriptures that pop out to me, answered prayers, and anything to do with where I am spiritually.

 

Full disclosure: I'm not great at keeping up with it, but I can look back now and see some true value in sorting out my thoughts.

 

Thanks for your reply. :)

[Bang!Zoom!]

Last year I did one with photography; the basis of it was a question, "What is the nature of forgiveness?"

 

Everyday I'd walk and think, photograph things along the way; then late at night edit the photos and read about different approaches from all religions on what it means.

 

I found it very helpful and learned a lot from it. 30 days is a long time to focus on that as an element. I tend to go deep rather than broad.

 

Although I like writing very much, visual is actually a stronger field for me.

 

Edit: You know, I don't even remember now what set me off to do that. It must have worked! :)

[RainbowSprinkles]

What a neat idea!

 

Last year I did one with photography; the basis of it was a question, "What is the nature of forgiveness?"

 

Everyday I'd walk and think, photograph things along the way; then late at night edit the photos and read about different approaches from all religions on what it means.

 

I found it very helpful and learned a lot from it. 30 days is a long time to focus on that as an element. I tend to go deep rather than broad.

 

Although I like writing very much, visual is actually a stronger field for me.

 

Edit: You know, I don't even remember now what set me off to do that. It must have worked! :)

[RainbowSprinkles]

Yes, I did, and it turned out to be a record of my conversion to Orthodoxy. It didn't start OUT that way. :0)

 

Thank you! :)

[Rosie_0801]

There are books from different religions containing study questions. Perhaps working through some from different places will help clarify? They provide conversation starters anyway. Dh and I worked through this one a few years back. It didn't change our beliefs, but it made us think about a few topics and points of view we wouldn't have bothered clarifying our thoughts on otherwise.

 

Rosie

[ma23peas]

Not a spiritual journey really, but I do keep a journal about all the ways God shows his path to me....they are really incredible and faith affirming, the more I recall them the keener my sense is in hearing nudges as they come...I keep t so my children will be encouraged and remember all those times God tangibly carried us through something or to something...we call them love nuggets :)

[LittleIzumi]

:grouphug::grouphug: Interesting! I haven't tried that, and it sounds wonderful. I am keeping a scripture journal to write whatever promptings or impressions or feelings I have while reading scriptures, or to write down quotes that jump out at me a lot. That's been very beneficial already, and makes me pay much attention to what I'm reading. I feel much closer to God and get a lot more out of each scripture experience now.

[PrincessMommy]

I'm thinking of going on a spiritual journey by writing it all down. I'm confused and I think writing it all out will help me sort through a lot stuff.

I want to really dig deep and look at different "faiths" or "religions" and just find my way.

 

If you have done something like this, has it helped you? I'm really longing for clarity and contentment in what I believe..

 

ETA: If you been on something similar to this, what have you done to help you sort through it all? What has helped you; prayer, meditation, books, other resources? Were are you in your journey?

 

I did of sorts. I started a blog. It started out with my spiritual journey. I just didn't want to forget some stuff.

 

What happened was I started doing a serious search in 1999, then I set it on the back burner early in 2001. Came back to it in 2005, but really forgot a lot of the issues I had been wrestling with back in 1999-2001. It was weird. At the time they were HUGE. But then I had another baby and more homeschooling and poof! It was like I had amnesia. Anyway, I didn't really start back at ground zero, I knew by that time where I was heading... but all those "issues" just didn't seem so important. But, I didn't want to forget what the journey was like so I started a blog. I didn't publish everything, but a lot I did. I wasn't really angry with my former traditions either. I've seen some of that with other people and it really isn't nice to air all that anger in public. KWIM??

 

Anyway, the thing that helped me - the thing that was my issue from the beginning was "What do they believe (Christians) and when did they believe it?" I wanted something that could be traced to the faith of the Apostles and not some "new" theology where someone was basically thinking "We know more than the early church, and we've come up with this new way of looking that this or that passage or doctrine". Anyway, the thing that helped me was starting at the beginning with the Apostolic Fathers. It's not hard to find copies of it online or cheap via Amazon. The nice thing about the book I got is it went into the history of those particular letters or writings. Many had been lost to the West until the last 200 yrs. So sad.

 

The other thing that helped was reading other people's journey's too. It was nice to know I wasn't alone and that other people were asking the same questions.

 

Well... that's my rambling answer. :001_smile:

[PrincessMommy]

Last year I did one with photography; the basis of it was a question, "What is the nature of forgiveness?"

 

Everyday I'd walk and think, photograph things along the way; then late at night edit the photos and read about different approaches from all religions on what it means.

 

I found it very helpful and learned a lot from it. 30 days is a long time to focus on that as an element. I tend to go deep rather than broad.

 

Although I like writing very much, visual is actually a stronger field for me.

 

Edit: You know, I don't even remember now what set me off to do that. It must have worked! :)

 

I agree.. that is a very cool idea.

[RainbowSprinkles]

I did of sorts. I started a blog. It started out with my spiritual journey. I just didn't want to forget some stuff.

 

What happened was I started doing a serious search in 1999, then I set it on the back burner early in 2001. Came back to it in 2005, but really forgot a lot of the issues I had been wrestling with back in 1999-2001. It was weird. At the time they were HUGE. But then I had another baby and more homeschooling and poof! It was like I had amnesia. Anyway, I didn't really start back at ground zero, I knew by that time where I was heading... but all those "issues" just didn't seem so important. But, I didn't want to forget what the journey was like so I started a blog. I didn't publish everything, but a lot I did. I wasn't really angry with my former traditions either. I've seen some of that with other people and it really isn't nice to air all that anger in public. KWIM??

 

Anyway, the thing that helped me - the thing that was my issue from the beginning was "What do they believe (Christians) and when did they believe it?" I wanted something that could be traced to the faith of the Apostles and not some "new" theology where someone was basically thinking "We know more than the early church, and we've come up with this new way of looking that this or that passage or doctrine". Anyway, the thing that helped me was starting at the beginning with the Apostolic Fathers. It's not hard to find copies of it online or cheap via Amazon. The nice thing about the book I got is it went into the history of those particular letters or writings. Many had been lost to the West until the last 200 yrs. So sad.

 

The other thing that helped was reading other people's journey's too. It was nice to know I wasn't alone and that other people were asking the same questions.

 

Well... that's my rambling answer. :001_smile:

 

Thank you! :)

[eaglei]

Not exactly a spiritual journal . . . here's what I've been doing:

 

Last year I started following this Bible reading chart that someone on here posted. I don't recall what site they posted, but here is a site that *appears* to have the same chart: http://www.arcamax.com/ttb-yr.html

 

As I read, I stop when anything strikes me - whether an insight, a question, whatever - and write about it (I started a journal document dedicated to this). I have a couple sites bookmarked to do further referencing - one is a dictionary site; the other is a site that shows the same verse in various versions, then has commentary at the end. I also do other searches, depending on the verse, or where my thoughts take me.

 

Additionally, I have an online personal journal (no public blogging for me)! Anything, including spiritual things, goes here.

 

In all honesty, I don't follow the Bible-reading chart every single day and I don't type in my online journal every day; nonetheless, these have been a great help in my spiritual walk as well as everyday living.

 

Periodically, I go back and reread various entries. It can be quite revealing! Helpful, too, and encouraging!