“I should write upon these plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious…” (Jacob 1:2)
Once again, I must testify of how important writing can be in our on-going journey of recovery. There has never come a time when writing hasn’t been beneficial to my recovery. Often, it has been vital.
Our prophets have urged us for many years to keep a personal journal, writing daily if possible. For many of us this has seemed like an impossible challenge. Maybe we can draw encouragement from the Lord’s instructions to Jacob concerning what he should engrave on the plates. Notice the italicized words above: “a few,” and “most precious.”
As I have worked through my recovery, I have learned the value of “the little bit.” As a perfectionist, one of my biggest challenges has been that I think I have to do it “all.” And if I can’t, I tend to do nothing. It seems to me that Jacob is modeling this very principle of “the little bit” in his sharing of the Lord’s counsel.
How much do we need to write to comply with this model? Long, exhaustive histories? Lots of facts and figures? Not necessarily. Just a little bit is sufficient. Just the precious parts. The coincidences, the little miracles of our everyday life.
Now, a word to those who once they begin to write, can’t seem to quit. As crazy as it may sound, some of you—once you break through the Adversary’s blocks to writing—will fall in love with it. You may find that writing is your calling. In other words, you’ll feel that it calls to you with a power that you recognize as the Spirit of the Lord. If you are one of these people, rejoice! Personal writing is one of the most therapeutic things one could ever do. It can serve to calm us down, get us centered, restore us to sanity and give us deliberate, focused conscious contact with the the Spirit of the Lord.
Never turn down a chance, or a call, to write. It may well be your errand from the Lord.
~Colleen H.
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