Journaling for Pastors: reflect on your past

Enter into the spiritual practice of journaling.

Published
tan blank journal with pen

The nature of the pandemic has put many of us into a crisis state. While pastors navigate their own feelings, changes in their family life like children learning from home, and the challenges of pastoring at a distance, they are still called upon to be a leader and guide for a community of people struggling through the trauma of the pandemic. What kind of resources can help a pastor navigate this new reality?

In an earlier article, I wrote about how pastors can remember the lessons of CPE to help us center ourselves in the storm. One of those lessons is the power of reflection. Right now, journaling is a spiritual practice that can help us cast our cares on God, reconnect with who we are, and become aware of who we are becoming as a result of this present crisis.

I want to invite you into a practice of journaling with this first in a series of reflections and prompts.

Journaling Prompt

These prompts build on one another to create a single journal entry.

1. What is something in life that you have done well in the past, that you are proud of? How do you feel when you do this? What skills and strengths do you have that are tied into this? 

2. Think back to a time when you went through a challenge in your personal life. What happened? How did you feel during it? How did you feel after? Looking back, what are a few things that this experience taught you? 

3. Reflect on the skills and strengths you have from the things you do well and from the challenge that you wrote about. In what ways could these experiences be helping you (or help you) during this pandemic? 

End your journaling session by writing a prayer based on what you learn from the prompts above. 

Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom

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