Why Should We Keep Personal Journals?

Families and communities are stronger when individuals maintain personal journals. My family has much more information about my father than we do about my mother because Dad wrote his personal history, and Mom did not. Much of the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was written and corrected due to personal journal entries about historical events.

President Spencer W. Kimball is well-known for his journal keeping, and he spoke or wrote about keeping journal on several occasions. In his article “The Angels May Quote from It” (New Era, Oct. 1975), President Kimball wrote the follow to remind us of the importance of keeping journals. 

“The Lord Jesus Christ Himself emphasized the great importance of record keeping to the Nephites and Lamanites.” Christ asked the people why the fulfillment of Samuel’s prophecies about the resurrection had not been recorded. “And Jesus said unto them, How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them? And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written. And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.” (3 Ne. 23:6-13; italics added).

In the same article, President Kimball gave counsel about how to start journal keeping, something even young children can do.

Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. Remember, the Savior chastised those who failed to record important events.

President Kimball again wrote about keeping journals in his article “President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Eras, Dec. 1980, 27). He cautioned us about discounting how important the details of our lives that we consider to be “monotonous” will be to our posterity. 

People often use the excuse that their lives are uneventful and nobody would be interested in what they have done. But I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations.”

The life of every individual is valuable to someone. It may be parents or siblings, children or grandchildren. Wise parents will keep their own personal journal and then encourage their children to do the same. By doing so, they can strengthen their extended family and their community. 

Personal Journals Bring Blessings

                Families, communities, and nations are strengthened when the rising generation understands the importance of learning and teaching in a family setting.  We can assist this understanding by preparing them to share with their families the eternal truths about the importance of marriage and family in Heavenly Father’s plan.  One of the ways they can prepare is by learning more about their own families through family history.

                Since the time of Adam, the Lord and His prophets have emphasized the importance of keeping records, particularly the history of our families.  One of the records we should keep is a personal journal.  A personal journal is part of our family history and brings blessings to individuals and families.  When we write in our personal journals, we have the opportunity to reflect on our lives and recognize the hand of the Lord in them.  Our journals should include a record of the Lord’s many blessings and tender mercies in our lives.  They can also be a source of inspiration and strength to our posterity.

                The scriptures include many examples of why we should keep personal journals.  Moses spoke with the Lord face to face and saw in vision the time of Adam.  He later recorded, “And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration;

                “And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled….

                “And death hath come upon our fathers; nevertheless we know them, and cannot deny, and even the first of all we know, even Adam.

                “For a book of remembrance we have written among us, according to the pattern given by the finger of God; and it is given in our own language” (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 6:5-6, 45-46). 

                As he began his record, Nephi explained why he was keeping a journal and testified of its truthfulness: “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

                “Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.

                “And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge” (Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1 Nephi 1:1-3).

                As Alma prepared his son, Helaman, for leadership, he taught the importance of keeping records and included these reasons:  “And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for beyond, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.

                “Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect traditions of their fathers; yea, these records and their words brought them to repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer” (Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Alma 37:8-9).

                From these three examples from the scriptures, we know some of the reasons why keeping journals is so important:  (1) It is a commandment from God to write with the spirit of inspiration.  (2) We leave a record of our lives, proof that we once existed.  (3) Children can learn to read and write by keeping their own journals.  (4) Writing our records is an excellent opportunity to remember the blessings that God has bestowed upon us and to show gratitude to God for them.  (5) Our records can help us and other remember the things that have happened, convince us of the ways we can improve, and bring us to repentance.

                Nephi taught the importance of keeping records as well as the information that we should include in our journals.  “And it mattereth not to me that I am particular to give a full account of all the things of my father, for they cannot be written upon these plates, for I desire the room that I may write of the things of God.

                “For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.

                “Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world.

                “Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men” (Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1 Nephi 6:3-6).

                Nephi kept two sets of records, one in which he wrote more of the day to day happenings and one in which he wrote of more spiritual experiences with just enough reference to the events of his days to help us understand.  We have only one of his records and are fortunate that it includes more of the spiritual experiences.  Several of our leaders today have suggested that we keep a record of our spiritual experiences.  We should be sure to include our spiritual experiences in our journals.

                When Jesus Christ visited the inhabitants of ancient America, He commanded a later prophet named Nephi to bring forth the records.  He read through them and discovered that something important had not been included:  “And now it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he said unto them again, after he had expounded all the scriptures unto them which they had received, he said unto them:  Behold, other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not.

                “And it came to pass that he said unto Nephi:  Bring forth the record which ye have kept.

                “And when Nephi had brought forth the records, and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said:

                “Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them.  And he said unto them:  Was it not so?

                “And his disciples answered him and said:  Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.

                “And Jesus said unto them:  How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?

                “And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.

                “And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.

                “And now it came to pass that when Jesus had expounded all the scriptures in one, which they had written, he commanded them that they should teach the things which he had expounded unto them” (Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 3 Nephi 23:6-13).

                President Spencer W. Kimball was a great record keeper and had many volumes of journals.  He often counseled us to keep our own personal records.  He reminded us of the blessings we have because Moses wrote his history of the world, the first five books of the Old Testament.  “Where would we be if Moses hadn’t written his history ….?  He had the background, the data, the record, and the inclination, and he has blessed us throughout the eternities for the service he rendered in writing the first five books of the Bible.”

                President Kimball also reminded us that we should be grateful “that Abraham wrote his own life story and that important segment of the history of the world and his own revelations, thoughts, feelings, and rich experiences.”  He also reminded us of the emphasis that Jesus Christ placed on the importance of record keeping when he visited the Nephites and Lamanites on the American continent.

                Then President Kimball said, “I am glad that it was not I who was reprimanded, even though mildly and kindly, for not having fulfilled the obligation to keep my records up to date.”

                After giving several other examples of people who kept records, President Kimball urged “our young people to begin today to write and keep records of all the important things in their own lives and also the lives of their antecedents in the event that their parents should fail to record all the important incidents in their own lives.  Your own private journal should record the way you face up to challenges that beset you.  Do not suppose life changes so much that your experiences will not be interesting to your posterity.

                “Experiences of work, relations with people, and an awareness of the rightness and wrongness of actions will always be relevant….

                “No one is commonplace, and I doubt if you can ever read a biography from which you cannot learn something from the difficulties overcome and the struggles made to succeed.  These are the measuring rods for the progress of humanity.

                “As we read the stories of great men, we discover that they did not become famous overnight nor were they born professionals or skilled craftsmen.  The story of how they became what they are may be helpful to us all.

                “Your own journal, like most others, will tell of problems as old as the world and how you dealt with them.

                “Your journal should contain your true self rather than a picture of you when you are `made up’ for a public performance.  There is a temptation to paint one’s virtues in rich color and whitewash the vices, but there is also the opposite pitfall of accentuating the negative.  Personally I have little respect for anyone who delves into the ugly phases of the life he is portraying, whether it be his own or another’s.  The truth should be told, but we should not emphasize the negative.  Even a long life full of inspiring experiences can be brought to the dust by one ugly story.  Why dwell on that one ugly truth about someone, whose life has been largely circumspect?

                “A good biographer will not depend on passion but on good sense.  He will weed out the irrelevant and seek the strong, novel, and interesting….

                “Your journal is your autobiography, so it should be kept carefully.  You are unique, and there may be incidents in your experience that are more noble and praiseworthy in their way than those recorded in any other life.  There may be a flash of illumination here and a story of faithfulness there; you should truthfully record your real self and not what other people may see in you.

                “Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available.

                “A journal is the literature of superiority.  Each individual can become superior in his own humble life.

                “What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved?

                “Some of what you write may be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity.

                “Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.  Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies.  Remember, the Savior chastised those who failed to record important events” (“Angels May Quote from It,” New Era, Feb. 2003).  

                A nephew of President Kimball is one of our current leaders and often counsels us about keeping personal records.  President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently spoke about recording the tender mercies of God in our lives and the blessings that come from doing so.  “More than gratitude began to grow in my heart.  Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers.  I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ.  And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance – even things we did not or pay attention to when they happened” (“O Remember, Remember,” Ensign, November 2007).  

                President Eyring suggests that we record the ways that God has touched our lives or the lives of those we love.  He suggests that we ask ourselves two questions while we ponder what to record in our journals:  (1) Did God send a message just for me?  (2) Did I see His hand in my life today?  

Personal Life Writing

                I am always alert to learn new ways to improve my journal and life story.  I was immediately intrigued with an articleby Colleen Harrison http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/13328 about “the sacred act of recording your life.”  The author took this topic from a scripture written by Nephi, the son of Lehi:  “And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge” (Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1 Nephi 1:3).

                According to Harrison, there are numerous “genres” (forms) of “Personal Life Writing,” which include the following:  writing personal letters, keeping a “log” in a day timer or on a calendar page, diary entries or “expanded log entries” (more details of events), journal entries (“reflecting, interpreting, and even prayerful pondering”), personal essays (“reflections on virtually any subject or theme), autobiographical essays (“life story in increments), and memoirs (taking a “slice of your life and reflecting on it from your current point of view).

                The most important thing we can include in any of the forms of personal life writing is honesty about the things that happen in our lives – whether those things were in our past, our present or our future.   To be of any value to ourselves or anyone else, the things that we write must be true according to our best knowledge and memory.  Harrison suggested that her readers ask questions such as “What do I need to get honest about in my past?”  Then we should write about that experience with some form of life writing.  We could write a letter – whether or not we mail it – to a person in our past or we could write about the experience in our journal.

                Harrison suggested the following prompts:  “What things in my past still cause me upset?  Specifically, what things, events, happenings, etc. caused me fear?  How about what made me mad?  Or sad?  What about things that I feel responsible for (i.e. – guilty, ashamed)?

                “Or you can focus the same questions on your present.  What in your present makes you afraid, worried, upset, mad, sad, guilty, ashamed?

                “You can even do the same thing about the future!  What do you picture in your future that makes you feel any of those feelings?  Shall I rehearse those feelings again?  It’s really easy to forget them.  We want so much to forget them, to pretend that they don’t happen to us, to pretend that we’re living in such a way that they don’t bother us or matter to us.  But the truth is they do.  It is because of those feelings that we are as troubled as we are, even though we are doing all … of the right things according to our personal value system.

                “Pretending there’s nothing saddening, maddening, frightening, guilt-tripping enough in this life to honestly admit to myself and to God is what keeps me unsettled, upset….

                “Writing … centers me.  It focuses me.  It gives me clarity to identify the `voice’ of peace and hope and willingness and sanity amongst all the other voices (trains of thought) running through my mind.  … I believe this voice of peace, hope and sanity is the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ” as the prophet Alma testified:  `And now I say, is there not a type in this thing?  For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.’

                “This makes personal life writing – especially journaling – a very spiritual experience for me….  Journaling helps me slow down and possess my soul (my thoughts, feelings, life experiences and perceptions) with patience.”

                Like Harrison, I have learned that the simple act of stopping all my busyness and writing something – anything – down on paper helps me to think more clearly about the situation.  I often write the things that I would like to say to people, particularly those who upset me, and I try to write in clear and concise sentences and paragraphs.  By trying to explain by written words, I am able to think through more clearly how I feel, why I feel that way, and even how long I have had those feelings.  I have found on numerous occasions that the simple act of writing my feelings dissipates the problem and frees me to go on with my life.

                This practice is good with either positive or negative situations in our lives.  Sometimes I am overflowing with gratitude for a particular blessing in my life and want to share the blessing with my posterity who may read my journal.  When I write the experience, I try to explain it as though I was sharing the event with my grandchild or great-grandchild, and I ask myself questions.  What do I want my posterity to take from this story or situation?  How can this experience strengthen my posterity?  What lesson did I learn that I can pass along to the rising generations?  When I have a negative experience, I try to write about it in a positive, uplifting manner; I share how I overcame a difficult situation in order that my posterity may understand that they too can do hard things.

                President Spencer W. Kimball counseled the youth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to keep journals.  “Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.  Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies.  Remember, the Savior chastised those who failed to record important events” (“The Angels May Quotefrom It,” New Era, February 2003, pp. 32-35).  http://www.lds.org/new-era/2003/02/the-angels-may-quote-from-it?lang=eng

                I am very grateful to Harrison for sharing the various genres of personal life writing.  I am grateful to know the difference between the types of writing and that each form has value.  Like President Spencer W. Kimball, I encourage you to get a notebook and start writing about your life.  You are a very important person who has value, and your experiences can help someone else only if you share them. 

Personal Journals

                We have been taught by the Lord and by His prophets to keep records.  Since the time of Adam the Lord has emphasized the importance of keeping personal journals because it gives us an opportunity to reflect on our lives and recognize the many blessings God has given us.  Our journals can also be a source of inspiration and strength to future generations of our families.

                I know several women who are excellent journal keepers, and I try to follow in their footsteps even though we choose different methods of keeping journals.  A dear friend named Dyanne keeps her personal record in a bound journal in order to put it in her own handwriting.  She gains so much strength from reading the handwriting of her own mother that she wants to pass that strength down to her own posterity.  I know that at least one of my daughters keeps a journal, and I know that she has done so since she was quite young.  She has beautiful handwriting and writes in her journal at least once each week.   I also have sisters who keep journals, one of which writes in her journal every day using her computer.

                I wish I had kept a journal when I was in junior high school and high school.  I did not even keep a “diary” of my feelings and experiences, and I have almost nothing to help me remember those years.  I started keeping a journal when my children were very young and have used various means to do so.  I have tried handwriting but could not write as fast as my thoughts came.  I have typed many of the pages of my journal because I did it before the age of personal computers.  Now I keep my journal on the computer and try to write something every day.  I am getting to the age where I cannot remember what I did yesterday if I do not write it down!  If I cannot actually write in my journal, I write a few notes to jog my memory.

                The longer I keep a journal, the more I realize that I should be writing about more than simply what I did a certain day.  I try to write something profound in my journal occasionally, but I have much to do in order to become a better journal keeper.

                President Henry B. Eyring spoke about the importance of keeping journals and how to do it.  “When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day.  Let me tell you how that got started.  I came home late from a Church assignment.  It was after dark.  My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house.  He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes.  I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

                “He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work.  I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind – not in my own voice – these words:  `I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself.  Write them down.’

                “I went inside.  I didn’t go to bed.  Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write.  And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind.  I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family.  Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us.  He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all.  But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do.  I knew that was true.  And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

                “I wrote down a few lines every day for years.  I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day.  Before I would write, I would ponder this question:  `Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?’  As I kept at it, something began to happen.  As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day.  As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

                “More than gratitude began to grow in my heart.  Testimony grew.  I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers.  I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ.  And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance – even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

                “The years have gone by.  My boys are grown men.  And now and then one of them will surprise me by saying, `Dad, I was reading in my copy of the journal about when …” and then he will tell me about how reading of what happened long ago helped him notice something God had done in his day.

                “My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness.  It will build our testimonies.  You may not keep a journal.  You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve.  But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done.  You remember that song we sometimes sing:  `Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.’” (“O Remember, Remember,” Ensign, November 2007, pp. 66-69).  

                President Spencer W. Kimball was another excellent journal keeper, and he spoke to the youth of the importance of keeping journals.  “Again, how happy we are as we find our grandparents’ journals and follow them through their trials and joys and gain for our own lives much from the experiences and faith and courage of our ancestors.

                “Accordingly, we urge our young people to begin today to write and keep records of all the important things in their own lives and also the lives of their antecedents in the event that their parents should fail to record all the important incidents in their own lives.  Your own private journal should record the way you face up to challenges that beset you.  Do not suppose life changes so much that your experiences will not be interesting to your posterity.

                “Experiences of work, relations with people, and an awareness of the rightness and wrongness of actions will always be relevant….

                “No one is commonplace, and I doubt if you can ever read a biography from which you cannot learn something from the difficulties overcome and the struggles made to succeed.  These are the measuring rods for the progress of humanity.

                “As we read the stories of great men, we discover that they did not become famous overnight nor were they born professionals or skilled craftsmen.  The story of how they became what they are may be helpful to us all.  Your own journal, like most others, will tell of problems as old as the world and how you dealt with them.

                “Your journal should contain your true self rather than a picture of you when you are `made up’ for a public performance.  There is a temptation to paint one’s virtues in rich color and whitewash the vices, but there is also the opposite pitfall of accentuating the negative.  Personally I have little respect for anyone who delves into the ugly phases of the life he is portraying, whether it be his own or another’s.  The truth should be told, but we should not emphasize the negative.  Even a long life full of inspiring experiences can be brought to the dust by one ugly story.  Why dwell on that one ugly truth about someone whose life has been largely circumspect?

                “The good biographer will not depend on passion but on good sense.  He will weed out the irrelevant and seek the strong, novel, and interesting….

                “Your journal is your autobiography, so it should be kept carefully.  You are unique, and there may be incidents in your experience that are more noble and praiseworthy in their way than those recorded in any other life.  There may be a flash of illumination here and a story of faithfulness there; you should truthfully record your real self and not what other people may see in you.

                “Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available.

                “A journal is the literature of superiority.  Each individual can become superior in his own humble life.

                “What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved?

                “Some of what you write may be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity.

                “Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.  Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies.  Remember, the Savior chastised those who failed to record important events” (“The Angels May Quote from It,” New Era, February 2003, pp. 32-35). 

                My father read in Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened:  and another book was opened, which is the book of life:  and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”  When he understood this scripture, he decided to be pro-active and write some of those books from which he would be judged!

                Someone once said that a journal is proof that we existed.  Remember the book entitled The Diary of Anne Frank.  Would we know anything about Anne Frank and her family if she had not kept a record?  The answer is no – or at least not as much.

                I had a friend named Candy whose son was in an automobile accident, and she wrote about the incidence in her journal.  When the case went to court, a copy of her journal entry became part of the court’s record!

                I know the importance of journal keeping, and I know the importance of keeping good records.  I continue to improve my journal-keeping skills, and I encourage you to “get a notebook” and start keeping a record of your life.  “Maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.” 

Journals

Families are strengthened when individual members keep journals. Some people write in their journals daily, but others simply keep notes and then write in their journals weekly or monthly. I’ve found that I remember events better if I write daily. A friend of mine received temporal blessings for writing in her journal daily. Candy’s son David was involved in an automobile accident, and Candy wrote about it in her journal. Later when David was called into court, Candy’s journal entry was admitted as evidence that helped David in his claim.

In visiting with my siblings about events that happened in our childhoods, I learned that each of us remembers specific events very differently. This could happen because we were each involved differently in our own individual way during the event. It could also happen because memories have a way of changing if there is no written word to use as a reference point. Because traditions and memories of our experiences form a part of our history, we should be certain that we are remembering them accurately.

It is important to have traditions as well as to remember our history correctly. This is one reason why progressives want to change the history and traditions of our nation. In May 2008, Michelle Obama said, "Barack knows that we are going to have to make sacrifices; we are going to have to change our conversation; we're going to have to change our traditions, our history; we're going to have to move into a different place as a nation."

What did she mean when she said that we would have to change our conversations, our traditions, and our history? We change the conversation when we put a different slant on the words. We change traditions when we stop repeating the stories of our national heritage, when we take prayer out of the schools, when we stop pledging allegiance to the flag and start pledging allegiance to the earth. Another way to change history is to say that white things are now black and black is now white. For example, President Obama has said that we are no longer a Christian nation. How can he say that when 92 percent of Americans believe in God? How can he say that when 83 percent of Americans believe that public schools should celebrate religious holidays? How can he say that when 66 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday honoring the birth of Jesus Christ?

In order for us to remember traditions and history correctly, we need to write down our experiences and the events that are happening around us. We need to write history as we see it happening in order to have a foundation to judge what other people say and write. Keeping journals is a good way to strengthen our families and nations.