One Word for 2022 - Faith
For we walk by faith, not by sight. - 2 Corinthians 5:7
Christ is born!One thing I love about following the Julian Calendar is that my family gets to begin each new year with the birth of Christ - one more reminder of God's goodness and care after the hum of holiday festivities and the promise of a New Year have died down and just before we hunker down for the cold and dark of winter. But whenever we celebrate the occasion of Christ's birth, we are all here now with the dark months of winter ahead (although it is starting to get lighter each day) and entering the unknown of 2022.One Word for the New YearLast year my Christian school community offered a mini-seminar on the idea of "one word" for the New Year. You can read lots more about it here at OneWord365 and other places since it has really taken off. For me the basic understanding was trying to find, through prayer and silence and stillness, if a word to help guide and comfort me for the year ahead would emerge. I love words. So one word seems tough. Last year I sort of tried it and came up with "No Agenda but Love" (which I blogged about and you can read here.) In approaching 2022 I had various thoughts of ideas. I like this scripture verse I saw tapped above the sink at a friend's home:
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath - James 1:19
And similarly I have written by my door the reminder:
A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. - Proverbs 15:1
I also have been loving reading the author Sally Clarkson and how she writes about awakening wonder and creating a home of faith and love for her family. Through her writing I came up with the idea of focusing on Rhythms & Routines - something I love and desperately need right now as I navigate integrating work, schooling, faith, play and daily necessities into my family.I actually sat down now to write a blog of that title (Rhythms & Routines) which I will come back to. But as I went to put virtual pen to paper the word "faith" popped into my head and I realized it might be my word for 2022.Faith as a "Core Value"One might argue that faith should be our word for every year. Indeed their is a "core values" practice that I lead with various groups in my clinical practice and the only one of my core values that hasn't changed in the 8 years since I started leading the practice is faith. But when I lead the practice last Tuesday evening my "faith" card was missing from my stack and I ended up needing to find a few other cards to take it's place temporarily for the sake of the practice. What I ended up substituting was: "Spirituality", "Mindfulness" and "Inner Peace". At first glance those might seem to be less Christian focused terms - more modern day spirituality language - but the core value practice defines each "value" and these are the definitions:"Faith: To believe or follow a higher God""Inner Peace: To experience personal peace""Mindfulness: To live conscious and mindful of the present moment""Spirituality: To grow and mature spiritually"Deepening our Understanding of FaithWhen I looked at the definitions I realized that the word "faith" is so rich and complex - and that living with and by faith means a lot of different things - or more than can be summed up by simply believing and following God. I realized that faith does mean "inner peace" - since with true faith we can rest in the assurance and knowledge of God's goodness - we can trust in God and know we are loved and cared for.
“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?... Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:26, 34
Faith is also known in the present moment - and is about repentance and letting go of the past as well as living fully in the moment we are given since only God knows what the future will hold for us.
“Do not remember the former things,Nor consider the things of old.Behold, I will do a new thing,Now it shall spring forth;Shall you not know it?I will even make a road in the wildernessAnd rivers in the desert." - Isaiah 43:18-19"This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 18:24"For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart." - Ecclesiastes 4:20
And our own personal faith is a living and breathing and growing thing. Even as we are part of an Ancient Tradition - and even as we may hold strongly to maintaining the old ways of our church - we live in and amongst a modern society and we deal with new challenges everyday. We, for the time we are given, are always growing and learning spiritually. There is so much we don't know and so much we still have to learn. We can keep reading, keep studying, keep showing up and keep listening for all the time that God has given us.Living by ExampleI am excited to grow in my understanding of the many ways in which faith can be the center of my life - not simply in my outward actions, but in my innermost being. In taking faith into my heart this year and walking by faith - I hope to be able to best shepherd my little flock in their own faith journeys which will end (or truly begin), by God's grace, in His all Holy and Life-Giving embrace.With love in Christ,Sasha