Praying on Paper

“All I can say for now is that prayer is the doorway to the kinds of exquisite gifts [God] has given me.” Teresa of Avila, The Book of My Life (1562)

As you may remember, I started The Wisdom Project partly as a way to increase the regularity of my prayer life. My goal was to engage in centering prayer at least four out of five mornings a week and to continue in the awareness of God’s presence throughout the day.

When the Shalom students met at St. Scholastica Monastery on April 10, Sister Jean Maher introduced journaling as a way to stay close to the Spirit of God. In class that day she gave us an 8” by 12” piece of beautiful stationery and asked us to write a letter to God. She also gave us an envelope and asked us to address the envelope to ourselves. Then she said she would add a stamp and mail the letter to us before our next session together. I received my letter the other day, and I opened it to read the following:

Dear God,
Here I am, at the monastery for the spiritual direction class and we were asked to write letters to you which will be sent to us next week. Sister Jean has just given us a lesson in journaling, and I know this is one of the techniques people use. “Praying on paper” I’d call it, and whatever comes out now will be something I add to my journal at home.
Things are good with me. Some struggles this week and you know what they are. Bless those dear ones I am caring about and help them with their struggles. My own struggles seem manageable this week, but I ask for help to make the way to walk as free and clear as possible. There’s nothing wrong with a good sit every once in a while, too, so I shouldn’t worry if I experience delays. The main thing is that I hope to keep your intention as my intention because I don’t want to be at cross purposes. If you can give me enough guidance so I know what you want me to do, that’s all I really need for myself. For the others, I ask for their increasing capacities to love, to trust, to move freely without worries of harm or shame or loss.
May you have a good week! And may we find when this letter comes to me that those we love will have felt our presence and blessing throughout the days and nights between now and then.
Love,
Lezlie

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It was a gift to receive this prayer in the mail, and the letter will inspire me to write again, to deepen my relationship with God through more frequent journal conversations. When I write, I will ask God to increase my capacity to love, to trust and to move freely without worries of harm or shame or loss because I'm not quite sure why I didn't ask for that help for myself as well as for others in my life. I have fallen short in all these ways lately, and I will write asking God to provide. Teresa says, “All I can say for now is that prayer is the doorway to the kinds of exquisite gifts [God] has given me.” Praying on paper is just one of the many ways we can knock on the door and experience these holy gifts.