Looking and Seeing

A confession I have made before I will make again.  I have the best intentions when it comes to the discipline of journaling, but intentions do not translate into much writing.  No one has to point out to me the value of keeping a journal.  I am convinced it is a good idea.  A friend who inspires me to journal has volumes stored on some shelf that have accumlated over the last twenty or more years.  I started in 2016 and have hardly made a dent in the first notebook set aside for this purpose.    

I suppose what brought all this failure of mine to the surface again was a quote from Henry David Thoreau's journal from 1851 that Ken Gire noted in his book entitled, "Seeing What is Sacred."   The words from the wanderer of Walden Pond are, "The question is not what you look at, but what you see."  Anyone who wants to get everything possible out of every day understands that we need to see what we are looking at.  Most of us do more looking than seeing.  But, of course, what Gire is saying is that keeping a journal helps us do a better job of paying attention and seeing what we are looking at each day.  

There are no hard and fast rules that I have seen about the things that must be included in a journal.  Such is a matter for the mind and heart of the one who pens the pages.  It is not hard to have what is needed for journaling.  A notebook and pen is all that is required.  Mine, as limited as it is, contains records of dreams, poems that touched me deeply, words of encouragment from friends, a few pictures, some notes about Scripture and other readings, but mostly just reflective thoughts about the way a moment has broken into my subconscious and claimed my attention.  I know it is worth the effort required to do it.  And, I am going to continue even though my journaling is no model for the one who is setting out to journal their own notes about life with others and the Creator.