The "Write" Way

Over the past few years, I've been encouraged to keep a journal as a way to deal with my feelings and thoughts, and to record my experiences. While blogging is certainly a type of journalling, I don't typically open my heart for all to see, here on the "pages" of cyberspace.

I'm also a bit of a control freak, so traditional journalling, with the idea that things don't have to be perfect, is incredibly difficult for me. I'm much more comfortable at a computer where I'm able to correct, rewrite, rearrange...well, you get the idea...at will, and quickly. I become more focused on the finished product than on the emotional/mental/spiritual healing that may come from recording my thoughts.

I found a beautiful quote on another blog early today. It gives a beautiful rationale as to why we should write.

"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone." ~Vita Sackville-West

Perfect or not, it is indeed important to capture the butterflies that somehow tug at our minds, hearts or spirits. It shouldn't matter that the grammar might not be precise (God forbid!) or the prose not quite as purple as we might like, but rather we should concentrate on opening our brains and letting the creativity spill forth in words.

Recently, I've come across many Christian bloggers who consider themselves "King James Only" when it comes to scripture translations. While I applaud them for their convictions, I don't necessarily agree with them. I've been very happy (in my limited scriptural knowledge) with my New International Version translation, and a couple of years ago, was introduced to "The Message". I think (again, with my limited knowledge) that it is important to consider several versions when really looking for the meaning that the writers intended to convey.

As far as speaking to my heart, here is Col. 3:15-17, as it appears in my "go-to" translation, the NIV:

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

And here it is in The Message:

"Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way."

I love The Message, because it speaks in "normal" language, the language of the everyday. I can totally see Paul saying "Hey now, none of this going off and doing your own thing." I believe that the early followers of Christ were real people, living real lives, and I'd like to believe that they spoke to their peers in language that was easily understood, and pertinent to the day.

While others may not share my feelings about scripture, I just can't believe that Jesus and His followers were some high and mighty academics who spoke far above the heads of the crowd. My Jesus was real. The kind of man who flipped over tables in the temple and got angry. The kind who sometimes used less-than-perfect grammar to make his point known.

If only I could remember that next time it is suggested that I journal.