Review: “Journibles (The 17:18 Series)”

Journibles (The 17:18 Series)

Rob Wynalda

Reformation Heritage Books, various dates, various pp., hardback, $13-20

Various ISBNs

When I tell you that this growing series consists mainly of blank pages, you might ask me why you should invest your hard-earned local shekel in such a product. Let me explain: building on the mandate of Deuteronomy 17:18 (that the king write out his own copy of the law) and the expectation that such a process will be an aid to memory and a prompt to understanding, each journible takes either one or several of the books of Scripture, giving a blank right-side page for someone to write out their own copy of the book, and the left page for notes, comments and thoughts (with very occasional prompts to get the juices flowing). Could you not do it yourself in any decent notebook? Yes, but I imagine that investing in these well-bound and attractively-presented volumes – pleasant enough to prompt the employment of a good fountain pen to slow down the process of thought and action – may prove an incentive and a means of maintaining focus and accountability in the process. As a deliberate, spiritual exercise, perhaps as part of one’s private devotions, or as a Sunday afternoon activity, I should hope that this would prove a genuine means of getting the Word of God written not just on the pages of a notebook but on the fleshy tablet of the heart.

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