Should I Start Journaling?
Journaling is a practice in my life that has ebbed and flowed. At times, I am journaling at least once a day, and other times, I go weeks not journaling at all. While not a direct tie-in, I would say that the times in my life when I am journaling consistently are the times I am also praying and meditating on Scripture the most.
In Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney includes a chapter on journaling. He provides a disclaimer for this chapter that, unlike the other disciplines in the book like prayer and fasting, journaling is not something we are commanded to do. He does, however, write on the benefit of the practice for the Christian life and communicates an implied priority by arguing, “As long as people have been able to write, they have written about what is most important to them.”
I want to consider the spiritual benefits of journaling, but I think it is interesting and important to see that even outside a religious context, we can observe how God designed our minds to operate in such a way that writing is a healthy practice. A research study published by Cambridge University Press in 2018 found that participants who wrote about stressful, troubling, or emotional experiences had better physical and psychological health. A different study in 2001 found that writing can provide an improvement in people’s memory. Even beyond the academic world, I have noticed a trend over the last year or so of people keeping some form of a “gratitude journal”, in which they will write daily something they are grateful for.
When I journal, my approach is to be brief and comprehensive. This removes any pressure I may place on myself to write long, flowing, descriptive paragraphs; this can become exhausting and time-consuming. Usually, I will have two separate entries for the day. One is a response to my daily Scripture reading – this can be a simple observation, something to hold onto for the rest of the day, a prayer, or even a question about the text I would like to return to. The other entry is less specific; it is merely something from my day that stood out – a brief conversation with a stranger, a prayer, a meal I had, a moment of recognition of the beauty of God’s creation, a joke I was told, literally anything.
What I have found with the first entry on my Scripture reading is that this meditative exercise makes the Bible become more alive in my life. I recall better what I have read on any given day. My prayers for myself and for others are more specific. I sense the Spirit working in me through the text more evidently, and the character of God is clearer.
That second entry comes later in the evening. This provides time for reflection of my entire day. I have also found it provides a more mindful approach during the next day as I am actively considering, “What will I notice and remember later today when I sit down to write?” As I said, this entry can literally be anything, and that may seem somewhat shallow, but this practice has not returned shallow results. These moments I notice in my day are ones I am always grateful to God for. More often than I ever expected, these journal entries have pointed me to prayers of adoration, praise, and gratitude.
The act of writing has yielded these results for me, but this does not even include the benefits of being able to go back and see what I have previously written. Before I begin to write, I look back over the past few days. What have I been seeing Scripture? How has God blessed me during these days that can feel mundane and repetitive on the surface? How have I turned to prayer in response to the Word and to the world around me, and how have I seen God answer these prayers?
I write this to hopefully encourage you to keep some form of journal if you aren’t already, or to keep it up if this is already a practice for you. Of course, everyone is different; what is beneficial for me or for others may not necessarily be beneficial for you. If you know me, you probably know I enjoy using fountain pens. To me, a good pen and notebook serve as tools of creative expression that connect my thoughts to the written word in such a way that encourages my enjoyment of journaling. So, from my bias, I would argue for journaling with pen and paper. (There are some studies that show the cognitive benefits of handwriting versus typing, by the way). Whatever you do, I hope you consider finding more ways to intersect your daily life with prayer, gratitude, and meditation on the Word of God.
“On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.” – Psalm 145:5