Several years ago I had occasion to write a spiritual autobiography.

I wouldn’t naturally have done that, but the assignment opened up a surprising opportunity to trace God’s fingerprints in my life and led to deep worship then and now.  Something I had to do turned into an actual spiritual practice and led to unexpected encounters with God.  Writing it swelled my heart with gratitude, and every time I’ve had reason to peruse it since, my soul sings in praise to God.  Even holding it in my hands deepens my love of God, and leads me to praise, and strengthens my faith and resolve to keep serving God with all I have.

There’s a very real way in which a document like this enables me to ‘bear witness’ to God; I guess it’s something like giving a testimony, written rather than spoken.

And I’m delighted to have something to give to my children to bear witness to the reality of God and his faithfulness to their father and, by extension, each one of them.  A man can hope they’ll read it one day!

Something rather simple was surprisingly helpful in the writing process:  a word limit.  I think the word limit given to me was 2,500 words, and I stayed close to it.  To write about God’s activity in one’s life can be a very intimidating challenge, so this word limit was immediately helpful because right from the start I knew I wouldn’t be able to say everything; in fact, I’d have to leave most things out.  For example, my high school years, as important as they were, only got one sentence!  Further, the word limit forced me to consider what were the most important highlights and the deepest depths.  Knowing that I couldn’t include everything gave me the chance to write about only the most important things.

I would commend to you this odd spiritual practice of writing your spiritual autobiography.  I recall taking some time– spread out over a few days– jotting notes and lists and experiences, then carving out a day and sitting down and just writing it, then revisiting it a couple of times after to edit, add, subtract, and make sure I was saying things just the way that I wanted them.  Those times all turned into times with God.  It turned out to be devotional.

________________

Should you feel led to do this at some point (Labor Day weekend is coming up!), here are a few things that helped me make this daunting task approachable:

1. First, establish your word limit.  2,500 words was helpful for me, it can be less.
2. List what you know really matters in your story.  Think about those things that if a person doesn’t know, they won’t really know your story.  Here are some questions to consider:
   1. “What can’t be missing?”
   2. “What were the most important experiences that formed me spiritually?”
   3. “Where are a couple of places God clearly showed up in my life?”  Of those, do any feel more important or impactful than others?
   4. “What was the hardest moment, and how did God provide?”
3. Consider your key Scriptures, “deep knowledge,” and influences.  You may want to think about the key Scriptures that are really important to you, the ones that course through your soul like the blood in your veins.  It’s likely you’ve memorized these without even trying.  It’s great if you can integrate these into your story, even if just a reference.  For me, including those acts as a marker of what I know to be deep truth.
   1. Speaking of deep truths, you may also want to make a list of your ‘deep knowledge,’ the things that you know beyond knowing to be true.  At the end of my spiritual autobiography, concluding with this list enabled me to feel better about not being exhaustive due to the constraints of that word limit.
   2. Similarly, I included as a postscript a list of influential men and women in my life, living and dead, those who impacted me directly in relationship or those whose examples and teachings really shaped me.  Including this list took me a bit over the word limit, but I felt I had to include it to recognize and honor them and somehow say thanks!
4. You may or may not want to title it.  I chose not to, choosing instead to list the three words that will go on my gravestone.
5. As you ponder your life with God, and write it out, do it with God!  Think and write with a posture of prayer, knowing that your Lord himself is right there with you, rejoicing that his child would take the time to reflect on the difference he’s made in your life.  It’s perhaps like an adult child sitting on the couch with her or his parent, recalling all the good and important times they shared together. Don’t be surprised if your heart is led to great praise, and go with it!  Pause in your thinking and just start talking to God!  Tears are fine.

Lastly, after it’s written and you’ve gotten it to where you want it, then ask, “Who do I want to share this with?  To whom do I want to bear witness and give testimony?” and share it!  Let others join you in your praise.

I think it would be powerful to share, certainly with your family members who would be interested, and also perhaps with your small group or some friends.  Perhaps this spiritual practice is something a small group of your dear ones could take up together, committing to read each other’s testimony and talking about each one over a series of weeks.  To this point, really only my wife has seen this outside of the group I had to write it for.  But today I’m sharing it much more broadly, and by doing so, I’m bearing witness to a great, loving, very involved God!

I guess what I’d really want you to know is this… oh wait, you’ll have to read my spiritual autobiography to find out!

On the Journey,

“SOUNDINGS” posts are aimed at considering together topics that are important for our society, for the Church, and for our own spiritual journeys. To ‘take a sounding’ is a nautical term about using depth to determine where you are and where you’re going.  These writings are designed to do just that.  Please share this post with friends you think might appreciate it.  If you would like to get SOUNDINGS posts from me sent directly to your inbox, click here.