As an avid journal writer, this phrase popped out almost immediately. I realize that journaling isn't really exactly what Christ is talking about here, but its the best way I can relate this passage to myself. I'm one of those every-night writers, even if its just a few sentences.
For this post, basically what I'm going to do is share a few really good quotes about journaling, and mix in a few thoughts of my own. Here we go!
"Your private journal should record the way you face up to challenges that beset you. Do not suppose life changes so much that your experiences will not be interesting to your posterity. Experiences of work, relations with people, and an awareness of the rightness and wrongness of actions will always be relevant. Your journal, like most others, will tell of problems as old as the world and how you dealt with them... Some of what you write may be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity."
-Spencer W. Kimball
"You may never be remembered for your superior writing skills, profound insight, or miraculous experiences as a teenager, but you’re the only one who can describe the night you finished the Book of Mormon for the first time, or the flustered feeling you had on your first date, or the smell of fresh roses at your grandpa’s funeral, or anything else in your life. If you’re the only one who benefits from your efforts, that’s enough." - Sept. 2003 New Era
That right there is why I'm so passionate about journaling. I don't know that my posterity will read my journals, and I'm not even sure that I'd want them to. I write in my journal for me.
I write because it is the one place where I am completely me. Not to say that the "me" everywhere else is fake, or that I'm trying to trick people, but in my journal, there is no one to impress or let down. No one that will judge or praise, laugh or cry, it is just me.
I write to remember. I write faith-building experiences so that months or years later when I doubt those promptings or knowledge I recieved, I can read back and remember how very real the Spirit was in that moment of clarity. I write so that when I doubt a decision I made, I can read back and remember exactly why I made the choice I did, and why I felt that way. I write everyday, funny experiences so that when I feel down I can look back and remember exactly where I belong.
I write because I simply never want to forget those people who've shaped my life. I never want to forget the encouraging words, the support, or the listening ear.
"If the writers of the Book of Mormon had recorded their experiences the same way that you do yours, what would the Book of Mormon be like today? Would it have episodes full of intrigue and excitement, like Alma chapters 46–62 [Alma 46–62]? Would it be a deeply spiritual treatise, like 2 Nephi 4 [2 Ne. 4]? Would it be a few brief sentences, like Chemish’s entry in Omni 1:9? Or would it even exist?
Okay,
so you’re not writing the Book of Mormon. But chances are, someday
someone will read the record of your experiences—your journal. Perhaps
it will be your daughter after you die, your great-great-great-grandson
doing his genealogy, a gospel scholar looking at what life was like for
Church members before the Millennium, or
an archaeologist trying to piece together daily life in your town in the
late 20th century. Whoever it is, what will they find? Will they find
anything?" -Jeffery S. McCellan
It may sound weird, but I have a testimony of keeping a journal. I know that it benefits the writer both now and in years to come. Whether my journals have reminded me of my testimony, or just made me feel like I'm not alone, I know that keeping a journal has blessed my life.
Unlike the people Christ is talking to in 3 Nephi, my writings likely won't ever be regarded as scripture, but I know that the principle of keeping a journal is a true one. It's blessed my life countless times; I'm so grateful for Christ's counsel to "write."
Here's a Mormon Message of President Eyring talking about the importance of journal keeping.
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