My 3 Words for 2018

Each new year, I ponder a triangle of guiding words that are not exactly resolutions but reference points. They are designed to reel me back to healthier, more dynamic living after the wild ride of December, where I tend to buck every good habit and over-eat, over-spend, and under-attend to the things I value.  (All in the name of baby Jesus, right?!)

I've spent the last couple of weeks rolling words around in my head.  Many that came to mind were ones I've used in past years, so clearly I don't master things, I just (God-willing) progress.

So here are my three words for 2018.

Tune

Living with musicians, I often hear instruments being tuned.  Sometimes we use electric tuners, dialing the notes to digital perfection.  Sometimes we tune to each other's instruments.  There is a cringe factor when the notes are not quite in tune; our ears rebel as the notes move toward the pitch, and there is relief when the pitch lands smack in the green zone.

Nothing in my life is perfectly pitched.  There is no use lamenting the fact that our instruments and our lives go out of tune.  Better to refine the ability to adjust, and to avoid snapped strings and gross discordance by making regular tweaks toward what I value and what keeps me healthy and sane.

Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy praise.

Rhythm

I am fairly adept at making schedules that incorporate my values and goals.  Keeping the schedule is another story because of my ongoing fondness for being lazy and procrastinating and for talking myself out of good choices.  The voices in my head can be subtle and ornery!  Strict schedules are not a good fit for me, but rhythms are healthy.  

My rhythm works best when it includes Sunday meal-planning, shopping, and prep, early morning exercise and scripture reading, defined times to work on my business, and spaces to put away work and technology and focus on the people around me.   God gave me an intuitive 3rd child who calls me out on my techno-distraction!  Finally, rhythm works best if I build margin by not overbooking myself.

Fuel

This word regards the simple concept of fueling my body and mind with food, work, exercise, rest, reading, service, and recreational activities that fuel rather than deplete my resources.  It sounds like a lot to manage, but each option, held up and considered, can be accepted or rejected as fuel.  I'm always hoping to make the next best choice...and often blowing it!  Here, though, is a tank-filling thought:  "His mercies are new every morning."

Thank you for reading my thoughts.  I hope they spur you to self-reflection as you consider tweaks or massive changes for the new year.  If you are a "word of the year" person, I'd love to hear your word(s). 

From Bethlehem to Aleppo

I prefer the sweet little baby in the manger on my shelf, the Christmas lights, and the warm fuzzy family memories made possible by the birth of Christ.  Let's just hang out there forever, because if we move forward just a few verses in Matthew, just two years on the timeline, we see with unflinching proof just WHY the world needs a Savior.  

Three chilling verses in Matthew gave me pause today.

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.  

Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

Matthew 2:16-18

Matthew writes this violent part of Christ's story dispassionately, more as a means to illustrate fulfilled prophesy than to say how utterly depraved this word can be.  But over the centuries artists have contemplated the Slaughter of the Innocents with deep conviction and emotion.

Bethlehem:

Genocide.  Over and over and over.  Nazi Germany.  Rwanda.  Aleppo.  So many more in between.  Have we learned nothing?  Wealth, science, evolution, education, globalism, post-modernism, war, humanitarianism...none of it has solved the dark spot in humanity.  

For this, Christ came, fled, returned, taught, suffered, died, and rose again.  For one heart at a time.

Aleppo:

Practice: Visio Devina

Over the years, I have enjoyed the practice of Lectio Devina: a slow, personal study of the Scripture, in which I meditate deeply on short passages.  I use the Revised Common Lectionary website for my scripture selections.  I love how it includes art and prayer that tie to the reading.  

This year, I am beginning the practice of Visio Devina, which is a method of connecting with God through visuals, often religious art.  Many churches, including mine, have chosen to forgo stained glass, icons such as crucifixes and statues, religious art, and other visual manifestations of the Story.  The philosophy is lovely:  the people are the church; the church is just a building to in which to gather, the Word of God stands alone.

But in my own quiet time, I benefit greatly from using art to accentuate my understanding of the Story and to connect with God.  Like Lectio Devina, I spend slow time with the image and listen for God to speak.   I research the symbolism.  The art is not necessarily inspired by God as is the Word, but that is ok. I do not worship the art or the artist, but I allow the art to lead me into worship.

Today, in the midst of Advent, while I wait for Christ's coming, I think on Mary.  There are so many wonderful paintings of the Annunciation, when they angel visits Mary with the life-changing news, but this one has always been my favorite for its simplicity and its "holy buckets, what's going on here" sentiment. 

Dante Gabriel Rossetti  Ecce Ancilla Domini! (The Annunciation)1849–50

Here are some things I ponder as I study this picture:  

I wonder how the dear teenage girl in our church is doing with her little son?  I will pray for her.

I wonder what it felt like for Christ to leave heaven.

I wonder how my friends are doing, the ones who have had life-changing events this year.  

What is that red thing in the picture?  

What is the gender of the angel?  Does it matter?

What does it feel like to be a refugee?  A pregnant teenager?  An angel?  

Here is a song from my Christmas CD that I wrote from Mary's perspective.

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