12. Pages Exercise

Dear Jim,

It’s great to hear that you’ve decided to give journaling a try, and that you’ve already seen some fruit from it. I am encouraged to know that the letter format is working for you, and that you have found your thoughts and prayers more focused and organized while journaling.

I would encourage you not to give up on the practice just yet. I understand that sometimes there is so much on your mind that you don’t know where to start, and I also understand how this feeling can be so overwhelming that you’d rather not even try. Once again, I want to assure you that this is not an uncommon feeling. These days, I don’t know anyone who is living a life that isn’t immensely complicated. We are pulled in so many different directions that it’s hard to even notice what we’re experiencing from one hour to the next. Taking the time to bring our experiences before God in an orderly way can feel like a near-impossible task, which is why we often feel overwhelmed at the thought of even trying.

One solution I have found to be exceedingly helpful is an exercise called “the morning pages.” I picked it up from a book called The Artist’s Way, but modified it a bit to fit with my prayer life. In my modified version, you take two sheets of lined 8.5”x11” paper, and you sit down and write a letter to God on 3 of the 4 pages. You simply start with “Dear God” and you go from there. The catch is that you don’t allow yourself to stop writing, no matter what. If you feel like you are stuck and have nothing to say, you write “I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what to say,” over and over again until something breaks through and you think of other things to write about. I am careful not to use this time to ask God for anything. I have found that if I ask for things in writing during the morning pages then it takes away from the power of the exercise.

This exercise allows us to connect with ourselves, which in turn allows us to connect with God.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Try the pages exercise described above. Take note of what the experience was like. To the extent it was fruitful, how frequently would you want to do it?