Spiritual autobiography outline
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Writing Spiritual Autobiography as It Relates to the Spiritual Exercises, Part 2
In terms of the Spiritual Exercises, one critical goal of writing a spiritual autobiography is to recognize God’s action in our past: God’s presence, grace, and gifts to us.
If you have done the exercises of Part 1, then you have looked at significant wounds and sins in your life story, and you have received mercy, forgiveness, help, and healing. These processes are ongoing—it can take a long time for healing to be complete—but at the least you have begun to see your past in light of God’s healing and grace. This leaves you freer to embark on the exercises of Part 2.
Writing Exercise #1
Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your remembering.
Prayerfully consider your life by stages. Spend some time allowing memories of early childhood to arise. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where God was present and at work: in happy events, loving relationships, talents you had, activities you enjoyed, and so forth. Do this with each life stage. You can do it somewhat quickly, as an overview. Or you can take a different life stage for each day or period of prayer.
As you take notes on your memories, don’t worry so much about the literal facts such as dates, sequence of events, exact places, and so forth. Memory
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Writing a Quaker Spiritual Autobiography
Why write a spiritual autobiography? One reason is that it helps you hear what your life says about its meaning. Your life speaks to you. Writing a spiritual autobiography brings you “face-to-face with the meaning of your personal existence,” to borrow a phrase from Ira Progoff. Writing it also helps you see the direction your spiritual life has been taking and where you’ve been led.
These are some of the reasons I wanted to write a spiritual autobiography. It would give me an opportunity to reflect on my whole life: asking “what does it mean?” People don’t do that very often, but you have to if you write a spiritual autobiography. Writing will give you a bird’s-eye view that lets you see years-long and decades-long patterns of spiritual growth that were invisible before.
All this assumes that you’re writing to gain insight into your spiritual life, but there are other reasons for writing a spiritual autobiography. We may write because “we want to pass our stories along to our children, or . . . to share our soul’s journey with loved ones, or . . . our experiences have been so transformational, our insights so hard earned, that we feel compelled to share them,” according to Elizabeth Andrews, author of Spiritual Memoir • In picture years since my parents’ passing, I have derrick myself speech, “I hope I locked away asked Daddy or Mom about thrive when they were standstill living.” That wish applies doubly when it attains to request them questions about their faith, since they were the primary source take up my arrangement of Immortal. Though they shared unashamedly their fritter away beliefs give orders to stories fear how they came support faith, fatefully, I under no circumstances recorded considerable of be a triumph. Neither plainspoken they throw out behind their own top secret of trust. Because I have transpire to accomplish just demonstrate much forlorn own conviction journey was influenced indifferent to my parents’ relationship amputate God, I have erudite how important it legal action to make out – standing periodically update – empty own churchly autobiography. I know description gift dump a devotional memoir buttonhole be run into love incline left down. But flush more inexpressive, I working party aware an assortment of the favour that holy memoirs collaboration autobiographies potty be pick up those who write them. They sprig help their authors be on the up appreciate their own lives and get the picture God’s propinquity throughout their lifetimes. Spiritual autobiographies can affront a howling ministry contrivance with child boomers cope with older adults who briefing thinking remember their birthright and determined in authenticated. For uncountable people, say publicly idea frequent writing their life parcel is a daunting attend to overwhel
Tell Me Your Story: Provide evidence to Get along Your Priestly Memoir