In Spring 2023, my 20-something daughter, Olivia Mater, and I took a road trip from Tobermory to Thunder Bay, Ont. We were both at crossroads: I was about to turn 60, and Olivia was starting a job as a canoe technician in a provincial park.
Somewhere around the town of Marathon, we remembered an idea we’d had. Olivia would write a list of questions for me that probed my experience of wisdom and aging. As rocks, trees and rain slid past the car windows, she dove into her phone.
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After about 15 minutes of intense tap-tapping, she came up with a list — one generation reaching toward another. Her questions were deep and thoughtful, challenging and inspiring. She asked me about my elders and teachers; whose presence I feel when I look at the stars; about where wisdom lives in my body.
Rather than answering directly, I brainstormed stories from my life inspired by each question and set about to writing them down. It became a practice. Because I am in ministry and time is hard to come by, I carved out two early mornings a week to write. I would light a candle and pray before I started, then look down at the list of stories and wait for the Holy Spirit to guide me toward the one I needed to tackle that day. During each session, I wrote only one story, sometimes revisiting events that hadn’t crossed my mind in decades. When I was finished, I often had to take a nap to recharge. It felt like holy and sacred work. After many months, the result was a manuscript that became my final project for a doctor of ministry degree in creative writing and public theology.
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How to …
- Ask a family member or other loved one to come up with a list of questions.
- Brainstorm moments or memories from your life in response to each question. Six or 12 memories would f it nicely into the timeframe of Lent.
- Reflect on how these prompts are working for you and add more as you feel comfortable.
- Dedicate regular blocks of writing time throughout Lent. When you sit down to write, declare that time as sacred.
- By Easter, you should have a meaningful body of writing from your life: a sacred offering for your loved ones or even just for you and God.
***
Rev. Sheryl Spencer is a writer, mother and grandmother who serves in ministry at Tobermory United Church.
This story first appeared in Broadview’s March/April 2026 issue with the title “Writing as a sacred act.”
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