So I’m sitting here at my dining room table, doing some reading, doing some thinking, doing some praying (one of my routine spiritual fitness exercise sessions)
when a thought pops into my head… “write it down”. I blew it off, had another sip of coffee, a bite of my toast, shut my eyes relaxing and there it was again, “write it down”.
So, here it is, “writ down”.
Along with the above thought came the reference to something I read recently, something there bears repeating here. It is a daily devotion from Henri Nouwen’s “Bread for the Journey”
APRIL 27 – “Writing to Save the Day”
Writing can be a true spiritual discipline. Writing can help us to concentrate, to get in touch with the deeper stirrings of our hearts, to clarify our minds, to process confusing emotions, to reflect on our experiences, to give artistic expression to what we are living, and to store significant events in our memories. Writing can also be good for others who might read what we write.
Quite often a difficult, painful, or frustrating day can be “redeemed” by writing about it. By writing we can claim what we have lived and thus integrate it more fully into our journeys. Then writing can become lifesaving for us and sometimes for others too.
Writing is an important component of my spiritual exercise routine, but one I often neglect. As Fr. Nouwen says above: “Writing can help us to concentrate… to clarify our minds…”. One thing I’ve learned about myself over the years, is that I am a “word hoarder”. Words fill my head with such abundance the I often get stuck in the clutter. The end result can be an interesting experience for anyone in ear shot as I hit capacity and the words are spontaneously purged. I know that for me, writing is a great therapy for treating my hoarding issues and protects those around me from an unwanted purging!
So “write it down” and explore, share and discover “what you writ”!
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And here’s a couple of my morning guests…
