Rev. Ron Lagerstrom,
spiritual director, pastor and the "pastor to pastors" for the PSW
conference Evangelical Covenant Church - personal letter
Luann Budd’s
new book, Journal Keeping,
is a most helpful way to integrate my Christian spirituality with my
everyday life. Her all-embracing practice of journal keeping helps me
connect my heart with my mind, my feelings with my will, my body with my
spirit.
As a
“journaler” and also as one who conducts spiritual renewal workshops on
journaling, I find Luann’s resource to be an excellent roadmap for our
Christian journey, guiding our jottings as we weave in and out of the
“traffic” –most all the “stuff” that makes up our daily life under God.
Her writing
style is delightful—very much down to earth and enjoyable to read. She
uses many personal examples—written honestly and with vulnerability. She
writes as if we are just having a good one-to-one conversation with each
other. Being a person who always looks at the end of book chapters to
see how long they are, I really appreciated her briefly written
chapters—pithy, precise and practical.
Luann Budd’s
book challenges me to do much more with my own journaling practice,
suggesting many new ways to journal and helping me know I don’t have to
be a “good” writer to be a “good” journal keeper. She encourages me to
keep doing it as one of the best ways to know God’s love and to return
the favor through my writing. Luann takes her journaling practice so
seriously and her journaling ministry to herself and to others is so
comprehensive that I regard her as one of my spiritual mentors in the
art of journaling.
Journaling
is a gift we give ourselves. Luann Budd’s new book, Journal Keeping,
is a rare find, helping me enthusiastically receive this gift with
greater joy and more fervent devotion to God in company with Christ’s
Church.
Great book!
Excellently written! Luann’s Christian spirituality and maturity in
Christ comes through every page! Congratulations!
Posted on www.needcoffee.com
It seems that journaling is all the rage--expensive
hardbound journals fill the shelves of bookstores, as do books on how and
why to keep a journal. But as with any trend, much of what you'll find
merely rehashes what you already know or is just plain so much chaff.
Luckily, amid this field of weeds, we have a bloom in Budd's Journal
Keeping--a book which promises, and delivers, help on how to turn your
daily writing into a spiritual quest for self-knowledge and a walk with your
idea of the Divine. Anyone interested in making their journal a deeper
experience, no matter their religious persuasion, should be able to adapt
and utilize the principles contained within this volume.
The book begins in Part One with chapters "exploring the
possibilities." Budd discusses such things as getting and staying organized,
making a commitment to honesty, and revisiting your journal at certain
times. Part Two looks at process, with chapters devoted to such interesting
topics as discovering the Divine in Nature, working toward reconciliation,
and celebrating the past. Particularly interesting chapters in this section
include Chapter 21, "Beyond Words: Enjoying Artistic Touches" and Chapter
26, "Dialogue Journaling: Writing to Respond to God's Word."
The prose is quite nice. Budd's ideas are expressed
clearly and with vigour, and a topic that could be dull or uninspiring is
instead interesting, lively, and provocative. She doesn't restrict herself
to the obvious or the safe, and invites you to add a truly valuable and
revelational aspect to your journal. To grow, after all, you can't always
play it safe or dwell in the known or the easy. It's good to read an author
who is passionate and practical, but not pushy or impressed with her own
ideas. She even cites everything! This is important when you find yourself
particularly interested in some comment she makes and want to read more
about that rabbit trail. Would that more writers understood this need on the
part of fond readers.
The book also contains a splendid appendix--fifty
journaling prompts or questions to get you started. Some of the ideas here
seem simple on first glance but will likely take you on a trip within your
own mind in practice. A second appendix is more specifically Christian as
Budd expands her journaling prompts into the Biblical realm. A third
appendix presents a hefty list of books that will compliment this one and
help you on your journal journey.
Another good thing is that it dovetails nicely with an
existing journal. Perhaps you're interested in the ideas expressed by Budd,
but you don't want to have a dedicated "spiritual journal." You don't have
to! Simply integrate some of her ideas as you go along. This book will make
you think and feel, but that's all to the good and can be incorporated
easily with other methods, journaling topics, or modes of exploration.
While written primarily from the Judeo-Christian
viewpoint, this is a truly ecumenical, friendly way to integrate the realm
of Spirit with your daily writing practice. As society progresses with more
"labor-saving devices," we seem to actually have less and less time to
meditate, consider those things that are most important to us, or just be
alone with our thoughts. Journal Keeping is a fine start toward a
remedy and could very well set you on a new course toward self-knowledge and
a deeper understanding of and appreciate for the Divine, no matter how you
picture (or cannot seem to picture) what that Source may be. I suspect that
even atheists would have some use for this book--it's that good and that
flexible.
Review submitted by Dindrane,
October 2002
