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Keeping a spiritual journal
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Many books have been written and are available to cultivate and support our spirituality. From the Bible, to the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Tao Te Ching (to name only a few), much spiritual wisdom is available to us to help us along our personal spiritual journey. However, many overlook one written work that can be just as important to our personal progression in our faith. This is a work in which we are the author.
Spiritual journaling can be a key element for many to help them along their chosen path. A valuable resource to document ones insights, questions, and avenues for the answers, a journal is not only an archive but a tool and a treasure.
What should go into your journal? This answer is personal based on the needs of those scribing the contents but here are a few suggestions:
- Favorite prayers and verses - As we stumble upon inspiring words from others, we may find we are moved to emotion or contemplation. Writing these quotes, verses, and scriptures in a easily accessed place, allows us to retrieve them for study and an inspirational boost as needed.
- Gratitude list - Gratitude is the cornerstone of many religions and spiritual practices. Even in the recovery movement for drug and alcohol addiction, people are called to focus on things they are grateful for on a regular basis. Making a list indexes these things in case we need reminded.
- Questions and answers - Start by adding questions of a spiritual nature that you may have, and document them so you can systematically look for the answers and then add the responses and resources you encounter. From the heavy mysteries of the universe to asking simple questions such as "What chapter of the Bible mentions the great flood", we can document the lessons along our way.
- Blessings - You can start by writing, "Today I was blessed by experiencing...". Not only will you document certain events that support your spiritual cultivation, but also allow you to recall them perhaps years later. You can even punctuate the posts with photos and scriptures for a more "scrapbook" feel.
Many bookstores carry journals that will fit any personality. Leather bound books with clasps and leather ties can adorn your journal and make it as ornate or understated as you prefer. By spending a few moments looking into a book that fits your personality, and selecting it carefully will make it more of a keepsake. Writing in it longhand, makes it memorable.
Although your journal will vary according to your need, you will enjoy reading your entries down the road, like finding an old diary. It might even be worth saving for your children or grandchildren someday to share some of life's important lessons with those you love. Who knows, you might even become the creator of the next bestseller if that is your goal.
Either way, spiritual journaling can be a great way to savor and store your thoughts in a safe place, available and at the ready should you ever need to hear them. Sometimes it will simply be to remind yourself of what you already know.
Many local book stores in Columbus carry these items. Here are also a few online resources:
Barnes & Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/
Leatherology - http://www.leatherology.com/
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