“. . . for you will be His witnesses before all to what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:15).
Back in College, I admired my classmates and friends who composed the editorial staff and regular contributors of our school publication. I felt I lacked the ability and art of writing. Writing experiences were limited to love and business letters. The manuscript of my master’s thesis was technical writing.
As we joined the BCBP, my interest to write was awakened and enhanced. I prepared my life’s story for the men’s breakfast in 1996. It was delivered in Mactan Airbase. The exhortation of Col. Boy Lopez was inspiring. He is now a retired General and active BCBP member in Metro Manila. Judy and I wrote the text of our couple sharing in 1998. It underwent several revisions and edit according to the focus of God’s message.
A little inspiration from the editor of LAMDAG (BCBP Mandaue’s periodical) encouraged me to continue to write as a means of thanksgiving and sharing of reflections. Rev. Fr. James Rojo of San Isidro, N. Samar who is our family’s spiritual counselor pointed out that these personal write-ups serve as valuable legacy to our children and their children. Moreover, the February 2002 issue of Personal Journaling: Writing About Your Life provided me some insights on reflective writing. Journaling is actually writing a diary or recording of memories, experiences and ideas spiced with their implications, realizations and resolutions. The manuscript of our life story delivered or shared every BCBP Breakfast Fellowship is basically a compilation of reflective memories where God is the center and main actor of our story.
Take note and learn from the four (4) easy steps of reflective writing. These are recommended by Alison Strickland, author of the article, Reflect on Where You’re Going from the above-mentioned magazine.
1. Quiet your mind. We committed ourselves 15 minutes Bible reading and 15 minutes personal prayer daily. I suppose this is a good time to slow down, shift gears and take a break. Simply relax and listen to God.
2. Capture your experiences. Revisit the experience you wish to reflect upon. Pay special attention to any spontaneous images and feelings. Start to write as much as you have captured then move to the next step that will invite new insights and new ideas.
3. Reflect, learn and discover. “Ponder on important events, learn and relearn, discover and rediscover. Learning implies gaining factual knowledge that you might glean from a presentation, report or book. Discovering involves connecting things that seemed unrelated before or moving beyond facts to recognize a pattern or synthesize materials into a new whole. When you are struck with something you’ve just read and then realize you already knew that, you’ve just relearned and rediscovered something. The implications of what you learned/relearned and discovered/rediscovered often spark new ideas and insights you will want to try out.” Personally, I offer to God what I intend to write.
4. Set your intentions. Steps 1 to 3 are not enough until you do something about them. Go forward by making a “what to do list?” or resolution.
The preparation of this article is a kind of reflective writing. You may refer to back issues of LAMDAG specifically March 2006 (Vol. 6, No. 3) entitled “Important but not Urgent” that I contributed.
In behalf of the editorial staff of SIDLAK, BCBP Consolacion’s quarterly magazine, I invite and encourage all our brothers and sisters to write and share your writing talents. As a starter, simply write a sentence or two for your comments, suggestions and feedback. Your constructive criticisms will definitely provide direction to where we are going. Furthermore, it indicates that you are reading our magazine. You can not write if you do not read!
When Judy and I headed the Book Ministry, our slogan was, “Read, believe and live”. This time with a slight amendment, “Read, write, believe and live.
Our editor-in-chief will be providing a space for our comments, suggestions and feedback for the succeeding issues of SIDLAK. We hope and expect that through our magazine, we can actively interact and share each others concerns to continue to know, love and serve the Lord.
Congratulations to our maiden issue! A grace-filled reading and writing to everyone! nmg
Do you know that we are the 5th Gospel writers?
“We are writing a Gospel,
a chapter everyday
by the deeds that we do
and by the words that we
say.”
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