Why a journal through the Psalms?

I don't journal! 

There you go, my sin is ever before me.  So why would I start a journal online? Well, the story is like this. During this past Lenten Season, our worship and small group team decided to encourage our congregational family to go deeper by practice various spiritual disciplines.  A wonderful list of spiritual disciples was brainstormed and the final list was composed:  Silence, Scripture, Prayer, Journaling (can you tell where this is going), and Sabbath Keeping.  Each of the Sunday's during Lent, I had the honor and good pleasure of speaking on the virtues of each of these spiritual disciplines.  Each week the congregation was encouraged to put into practice in their own private devotion each of these spiritual disciplines. 

All went well and good through the first three weeks.  We practiced silence by adding five minutes of silence to each day so that by the end of the week we were all sitting quietly for 30 minutes.  We practiced reading scripture by using the Lectio Divina.  And provided a couple of techniques to practice in our prayer life.

Journaling wasn't my choice of spiritual disciplines.  I whined about it on Facebook and asked people for help.  I stood before the congregation and there I confessed my sin of not journaling.  Because I| have enough integrity to give it half a chance to succeed in worship, I asked people to share their experiences.  My sermon closed with a commitment.  I couldn't ask our congregation to do anything that I wasn't willing to give a go.  Besides, about twenty years ago, I stood before a bishop who asked us if we would live out what we preach.  I agreed to start that next day and I would find a pattern in life to continue to journal.

Several days into the process, I discovered that I would have to find a more disciplines process to journal.  Staring at blank paper and filling it with words wasn't my thing, so I started to read the Psalms.  Today I finished Psalm 30, a month into the process and I'm hanging in there.  Actually looking forward to finding a verse to focus upon.

Using the Lectio Divina, I read through a psalm a day (I think Psalm 119 is going to have to be broken up over several days/weeks) .   Using my Nook, I highlight a verses that seems to speak to me and then synthesize a single one that I will journal.  I now spend about an hour each day reading, praying, writing and reflecting.  I've been posting my journal on Facebook.  That way people can keep me accountable. 

I'm going to post the first thirty days of my journal here on this blog and then continue to blog the rest of the psalms through this medium, posting my blog so that folks can go there if they like but not be affronted if they have issues with my thoughts.  You're welcome to add a thought to any given journal entry.  In many ways, it is my conversation with God, it is a theological (God-talk) conversation I'm enjoying now.  I look forward to my God time each day.  I hope you enjoy it to and join in the conversation. 

Peace,
M