I've been quiet, but not silent. Almost every night for the last few months, I've been reading a Psalm and writing about it in a composition notebook I picked up at Walmart for 25 cents. Now I'm on to my second notebook. This project has been completely captivating. The Psalms are so powerful and they are alive even in our day and age of non-judgmentalism and political correctness. I say that tongue and cheek because - I suppose you could call me negative - we are just as judgmental as any age has been in the past. We just try to be more politically correct about it.
This is why the Psalms resonate with me so. I just finished Psalm 72, which ends David's writings, and I have identified with them so closely at this point in my life. It's almost like David allowed us to open his private journal to read what's inside, only his "journal" wasn't private. Most of his psalms are written to a director of music for the purpose of public worship. See, even back then King David knew that people felt just like he did about life's issues. The good thing about his psalms is that they convince us to have faith in the Lord. No matter what, according to David, God is good all the time.Who could say it better? David was betrayed by his friends, chased all over his country by a rabid king, and had to flee for his life on several occasions. That is something with which I cannot identify, but I do identify with betrayal and feeling depressed. I also identify with the extreme goodness of the Lord.
There's more I want to say about the Psalms, but I think I will hold off until later. I want to talk a little about the benefits of journaling. Journaling is a spiritual practice that has been going on for thousands of years - probably since people drew carvings on cave walls. It is also, for some, a hobby.
There are also different types of journals. There are journals in which people just write (that's what I do most of the time) and there are art journals. Art journals are usually made from scratch or are developed from an existing book. In an art journal, the author uses all sorts of different mediums like paint, text, bling, pictures, etc., to create symbols for what he or she is feeling.
If you are interested in this type of journaling, I have found that this is a very good book for beginning:
Art Journals and Creative Healing: Restoring the Spirit Through Self-Expression by Sharon Soneff.
There are photo journals, travel journals, sketch journals, business journals, the list goes on. The main thing all these journals have in common is that the journalist is writing or creating something in a book of some sort. He or she is recording something that is personally important. Whether or not the author shares is completely up to him or her. The journal itself can be as inexpensive as pieces of paper gathered in a folder, or it can be as expensive as a journal with a cover made of wood or leather. It's up to the person who is journaling.
So why do people journal? Why do I journal? Journaling is a way to empty the soul of the day's garbage. It's also a way to focus prayer. God doesn't care how well you write, God cares that you speak with him. Journaling is a way to record what has happened to you. In the spiritual realm, it's a way to record what God has done. There's nothing like looking backward in your journal and reading about what God has done in certain situations. It builds faith and it inspires confidence.
Perhaps this is what the Psalms are about. David knew that by sharing his thoughts, his private thoughts perhaps, that his people would be encouraged to follow God and to stick with it no matter what difficulty had arisen in their lives. I believe that is one of the reasons why the Psalms were included in the scriptures.
What do you think?
