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Journaling Our Thoughts, Feelings and Faith
by: Cory L. Kemp
Contemplate for a moment how you felt the instant you laid eyes on your very first love. Is that
how you feel about this person today? What do you think about this person, if you even think
about them at all anymore? Remembering back to that moment, are you able to articulate
your faith experience from that time? How would you describe your faith now? Where our
thoughts, feelings and faith fit into our journaling process are as crucial as every other
element, if not more so. Recognizing them as the main ingredients of the whole of life is about
as simple, and as complicated, as as it gets. If you are able to clarify your thoughts, feelings
and faith around an earlier or present experience through journaling them, you have the
capacity to transform your life.
Undisturbed and unexamined, old thoughts can continue to direct us down unusable,
personally destructive paths, leaving us wondering why our lives are miserable and frustrating.
Perhaps your organizational skills are a challenge for you, and each time you are in a position
to plan an event, personal or professional, you become frustrated and are not sure where to
begin. Your mind goes in three different directions at once, you are unable to focus on a set of
steps to put together the theme, the activities, the refreshments and the guest list. Journaling
this process in the present can help you focus your energy, understand where your thoughts
are taking you, and, over time, help you redirect your thoughts down more productive
avenues.
Negative feelings, set in emotional concrete and stroked fervently over the years, scrape away
at our souls until, turning to hardened calluses, we no longer remember to feel anything other
than bitterness and resentment. Left unexamined, unchallenged, life passes us by. All the
positive energy in the world bounces off the solid boundaries of someone determined to
remain mired in disillusionment and denial. Writing down how we feel about whatever is
happening in our lives mainly gives us perspective. From heart, to pen, to paper, we are
creating a channel for our feelings, and a little bit of space that gives us breathing room, and
an opportunity to make different feeling choices for ourselves. When we have become so
intimate with a pattern of feelings that we can only sense the trench deepening beneath us,
we need to create a new pattern. Journaling can help us create that new, potentially life-
altering pattern by first giving us the opportunity to recognize the old one we are in without
judgment or fear.
By the same token, faith left unexamined is usually a faith not lived, and becomes a faith that
succumbs to stagnation or death. Prayer is clearly a key component to infusing energy,
strength and purpose into our faith, but journaling can again give us the opportunity and the
framework to recharge ourselves by releasing old patterns to make room for the new. Have
you ever consciously asked yourself how your faith spoke to you in any given situation? How
about when you were faced with a tough disciplinary situation with your child? Or when you
were trying to decide on how to balance your work with your personal life? How did your faith
speak to you as you woke up this morning? All of these are situations in which our faith is
present, whether we use its strength and wisdom purposefully in our lives, or not. Journaling
how we understand our faith has, or has not, addressed our lives recently or in the past, can
help us begin to use our faith consciously and regularly.
Considering how our thoughts, feelings and faith speak to us in the journaling process invites
God to the dialogue, a God-centered conversation in which we can observe how and when our
beliefs were engaged, or not engaged, in the process of living. An examined life transforms to
an informed life, and an informed life transcends to a consciously-lived life. When we are
conscious on our journey, it's a whole lot easier to recognize God and follow our purpose in
life.
About The Author
Cory L. Kemp
As an ordained minister I have worked in educational ministries in several congregations,
 as well as pastoring a congregation. My writing has focused on nonfiction essays and I
have recently submitted a theological memoir for publication. My ministerial background
and love of writing have combined to develop Creating Women Ministries, a website
dedicated to encouraging theological dialogue, particularly among women, through
workshops, journaling and personal spiritual development. My website can be found at
http://www.creatingwomenministries.com, and I can be reached by email at
creatingwomen@irun.com. My blog is located at
http://creatingwomenministries.blogspot.com.

Other Articles by Cory L. Kemp

This article was posted on November 21, 2005

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