Online outline

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 29 November 2007 06:58:58

My posts seldom make reference to my faith, so I hope that this one won't offend. Perhaps it will seem a little quaint.

I'm a sucker for outlines - starting off with headings, and then attaching new headings to those - I also like mind maps - but as the 'getting things done' guru David Allen points out, these generally work better on paper than they do on computers. Computers are good at outlines, though - revealing as little or as much detail as required.

I find that outlines help me when I'm trying to pray. Mostly I work from my PDA, with outliners such as Bonsai and SplashNotes, but I did a quick search last night to see if there was an online equivalent. I found iJot, which is still alpha software, but which the developers are allowing amateurs like me to try out.

So, here is my iJot, trying to demonstrate that when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he was thinking along lines not dissimilar to my own. Perhaps I'm stretching a point, but I was able to line up the phrases of the Lord's Prayer with the section headings I use nowadays when I pray. I'm sorry if this all sounds too analytical, but I do find it easier than sitting down with a blank sheet of paper, as it were, and not knowing where to begin.

I should say that before I begin my actual prayer, I usually read something from the bible; it helps, I think, to get me at least considering God's agenda before I start.