Telling Your Story

One of the joys of my work is teaching writers — old, new, and aspiring — how to write a meditation for The Upper Room. I especially enjoy working with people who are new to devotional writing or anyone who doesn’t think they could ever write an Upper Room meditation. When I teach writers’ workshops, I make it one of my goals to change the mind of anyone who thinks their writing skills aren’t good enough or that they don’t have anything to say. Everyone has a story 
to tell, and it might be your story that helps someone heal from a loss, endure a life challenge, or find a community of belonging. 

A few years ago, I used this space to remind everyone that all are welcome to submit a meditation to The Upper Room for publishing consideration. And once again, I want to extend to you the invitation to write. You don’t have to be a professional writer to send us a submission. We love reading the faith stories of a diverse group of people from a variety of backgrounds, geographic locations, and perspectives. 

Writing is a spiritual practice. It’s a wonderful way to discover more about ourselves and what God is doing in the world. It’s a way of listening to what God is saying to us and seeing God’s presence in our lives. It’s also an excellent and creative way to engage with scripture. Writing can help us understand scripture in a new way, find greater depth and meaning in familiar passages, and discern how the Bible is speaking to us in the present moment.* 

If you are concerned that your story isn’t exciting, glamorous, or interesting enough, don’t worry. Write from your heart. Stories about everyday experiences make wonderful meditations. Some of my most memorable and meaningful spiritual insights have occurred on an afternoon hike, during an interaction with a stranger, or while reading scripture. 

Here are some questions to help you get started. Can you think of a small, ordinary experience from your life that has ultimately had a significant effect on your spiritual journey and strengthened your relationship with God? What was the experience? How and why did it affect you so profoundly? What story or passage from scripture do you connect with your experience? What did your experience teach you about yourself, and what did it teach you about God? What do you want other people to learn from it? Can you answer these questions? If so, you can write an Upper Room meditation. 

A few points to keep in mind: Meditations should be between 250 and 300 words in length. I recommend taking a look at our writers’ guidelines here: https://submissions.upperroom.... and watching this short video: https://www.upperroom.org/reso... You can send us your meditation in the following ways:

through our online submissions form: 
UpperRoom.org/write
by emailing it to us: [email protected]
or through postal mail: Editorial Office, The Upper Room Magazine, P.O. Box 340004, Nashville, TN 37203

One of the biggest challenges of our work as editors is making decisions about what we can and cannot publish. We receive 3,500-4,000 submissions each year, and only 365 of those can be published. And of that 365, about 140 will come from countries other than the United States. But we read everything that is submitted to us, and we are grateful to everyone who sends us their writing. We love hearing your stories and getting to know you better through them. The courage that it takes to submit your work as well as the trust and confidence that you place in us inspires and encourages us in our vocation. 

We look forward to hearing from you.

*For anyone who wants to explore creative writing through scripture in greater depth, I recommend reading One Day I Wrote Back: Interacting with Scripture through Creative Writing by Jane Herring. It is available from Upper Room Books.