We’ve been observing fast for the past few days. It's the holy month, after all. N and I have been cooking up a storm for our evening meal. Other times we turn to shopping for cakes or different sort of soups at the bazaar. We’ve also been waking up in the witching hour to have early breakfast. It's been nice thus far, getting to honor the month together. Traditionally, abstinence is meant for sacred cleansing, one for the body and one for the spirit.
While we’re on the subject, I figure that it’s timely for me to share with you something soulful. If you have those beautiful hardback or leather-bound notebooks lying around in your home— those pages can certainly be up to good use. Instead of documenting events from your daily life, why not turn one of those notebooks into a prayer journal? This habit is known to be the ‘food for the soul’ among certain faiths but it can be practiced regardless by anybody.
This, for example, is one of the simplest yet most beautiful lines taken from the Book. It’s my favorite verse, really. It just speaks volumes on the reason to why we pray. Growing up, I’ve been taught to ask for guidance and forgiveness verbally. But on a personal level, I feel that I’ve been able to put things in better perspective through the written word. So instead of saying my prayers, the journal has worked miraculously for me whenever I need to contemplate. It’s been an enlightening process since I began spiritual journaling this year.
So why keep such a journal? For one, it’s a great way for you to keep a record of answered prayers as well as hopes and desires that are placed deep within. You can write down your prayers for your loved ones or those for yourself. They needn’t be big things. The smallest things sometime count, say, having a little courage or wanting the day to go smoothly. Even if religion is not your cup of tea, the practice of journaling itself is both reflective and affirmative in so many ways. Forget about knowing the heavenly, you’d probably get to know yourself even better :)
PS Flannery O'Connor's beautiful diary of prayers.
