Spiritual Practices of the Puritans: The Importance of Diary-keeping

by Kirsten Birkett

50 pages, Paperback

Published May 13, 2022

Reviews

[Nick Dawe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the transcript of a lecture from 2021 that gives a quick overview of the puritan practice of diary keeping. This isn't something I’d ever known about or considered in any way before (in fact I've probably thought a lot about some of the criticisms CS Lewis levelled at diary keeping in general, which has partly put me off keeping one).

However, the examples in this small book are inspiring, particularly as their focus is that these journals are of a spiritual nature - primarily to help the writer in their daily life, but also apparently for others in the church that the writer may choose to share or exchange with. The entries are not about the writer, but about God and what the writer has learnt about him in their daily experiences.

I’d love to read a much longer version of this book, although I will also try to dig out some of those diaries that are still easily available, and maybe even consider trying to keep my own spiritual journal as part of my daily devotions.