My One Word for 2022

Normally, it takes me about a month to decide what word I will have accompany me through the new year, but I walked into 2022 with the word I needed:

Freedom

Since I am still in the busy, noisy phase of life as a young(ish) parent with young(ish) children, I don't like committing to demanding spiritual practices, which is why I like the one word practice. For a year I pick up a word and internalize it. It becomes the filter through which I view the world and myself. I savor it like a piece of hard candy and wait for it to reveal its flavor. 

When I was crossing through my portal of despair in early 2021, which I have written about in more detail here and here, I came to this nexus where I heard simultaneously from deep within myself and from outside of myself, as if it were the voice of God Themselves, say, "I have given you the gift of freedom. You are talented and kind and loved and supported. You have been shaped by wonders. Now, what are you going to do with it? Yes, you have parameters to attend to, but they need not limit you. You are free and have all the raw materials you need to create something. What would be beautiful to you?"

I once preached a sermon on Galatians in which I described freedom as a blank canvas, empty space, stillness, quiet. It is emptiness brimming with potential that we are all given to transform into the art of living and life. I still think that is true. In the past, I've been too quick to pledge my freedom to someone else's vision or cause. I did it because I yearned for the community that would gather there. I did it because I yearned for a mentor. I did it because I thought it would lead me not to an easy path, but maybe a blazed one.

It brought tears to my eyes to read that in English the word freedom has its roots in a word meaning "beloved." It seems like quite a leap for a word to make but it appears that those who were free to exercise self-determination were, or became, beloved and valued members of the household or community. They were those who were not in bondage. There is a whole sermon there for another day.

In order to inhabit my word this year I am committing to be slow to say yes. To let possibilities ripen. If I say yes to something, let it add to the beauty that I, a beloved one, am pursuing.

We'll see how else freedom makes itself known as 2022 wears on.