Saturday, March 14, 2015

Record Keeping

Have you ever wondered or given thought as to why we feel the need to write things down? Why do we record our day to day happenings? Why is it such a joy to find old records and learn about someone who has passed on? There are multiple reasons why. The reason may be different for every person. It could be we write because we don't want to forget. We may write because it's a way to work through things in our lives. Or perhaps we write because we feel we can give something to who ever will read it. As for searching for older records, maybe we want to learn from the past. Or it could be we search for evidence we are not the only ones going through certain experiences. For whatever reason recording our experiences is something most of us do.

According to prophets there is great reason to record our life experiences. First off, many prophets declare they do not understand why they feel the spirit prompting them to keep a record. Never mind a second record in addition to their historical record. I can think of various instances also where prophets explain they write in order that their children may know Christ. That they may know their ancestors believed in Christ and hoped their children would also be led to believe in him. Reflecting upon this has caused me for some weeks now to reconsider why I keep a journal.

When I write who am I writing for? Why do I write down what happened during my day? Is what I write going to be profitable for someone at some point? By my writings does the reader know I believe in Christ? From what I write are they able to come to know me and feel what I feel? If I'm not writing for the purpose of one day profiting someone than why do I write at all?

So, next time you go to write something, I would invite you to think what you hope your future reader will gain from it.

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