This year I hadn't considered resolutions or words until last week. I was preparing to preach for two baptisms at First Fridays, and I came across a post about star words. Now maybe I'd heard of them in passing, but I didn't remember them. From what I can tell, Presbyterian clergy seem to have started them. Star Words are given out on Epiphany. They are words written on a cut out star. Just as the magi followed a star to find Jesus and brought him gifts, so, too, we seek a closer relationship with the divine. Our word can be a guiding star during the year, a word to ponder in our hearts as Mary did with all that she saw and heard about Jesus. It can be a word we live into, that we use to connect us with God, to lead us deeper on our spiritual journey, to guide us into the new year ahead.
As I was journaling about star words, the word endurance popped into my head. So I wrote it down, thinking that was a good star word. Sometimes I can get worn out and give up, and it seemed that endurance might be good for me. Except that it made me a little tired just thinking about it. Then I moved into a listening to God exercise and the word I got then was gentle. Seemed at odds with the first word until I spoke with my spiritual director, and we put them together - gentle endurance.
On Friday night I created star words for the First Fridays congregation. We passed them out at the end of my sermon, but I had to wait until after the service to draw mine. Harmony. I like that word. Perhaps gentle + endurance = harmony. Looking forward to how these words will work on my life in the coming year. Happy Epiphany, everyone!
What word is choosing you in this new year full of possibility?
