Writing The Prologue To A New Year
For three years now, I’ve guided a January retreat in called “Writing the Prologue to Your New Year.” Its purpose isn’t to encourage New Year’s resolutions that are as quickly abandoned as they are formed. Rather, I ask each person to flesh out how they would like to see the plot of their lives unfold in the new year. It’s a chance to envision the kind of person we want to become, to set a course, and to reflect on our priorities.
A theme that arose this year is how imperiled people continue to feel. “Beaten up” is how one retreatant put it. Lingering loneliness from the Covid pandemic surely accounts for some of this unease. Add to that an uncertain economy, seemingly intractable political divisions, senseless acts of gun violence and the on-going global tragedies of war, famine and climate disaster. The list could go on.
Still, I’m always inspired by the collective wisdom that emerges when people come together to reflect on and share their deepest longings. Poet and author Tracy Ritmueller shared this vision for her year ahead:
“Instead of rushing to heal, to become hyper-competent and more productive, I will choose to patiently soften into an ever-increasing capacity for awareness, gratitude and non-violence toward myself and others.”
Every year, I ask each person to choose a single word that can serve as their guiding star in the coming year. The result is always a renewed sense of hope. Here are just a few of the words people selected and the reasons they gave for their choices:
Harken: The call to listen more intently to the voices of wisdom around us.
Focus: Attending to the beauty that daily is put before us.
Flow: The ability to move in a smooth, steady direction.
Sabbath: Being present to whatever circumstances arise.
Clear: Un-crowding our calendar, opening time to enjoy relationships and events with a clear mind.
Weave: Staying attuned the various threads that present themselves in our lives in order to discern significant patterns.
Wisdom-keepers: Taking time each day to think of a person who acted as a wisdom guide, remembering the important life lessons he or she shared with us.
Other words that emerged: Exhale. Order. Restoration. Heal. Epiphany. Action. Awe.
What word speaks to you? What word would you choose as a guide?
After the retreat ended, I received a note from Tim Diebel, who had been with us. Tim spent 30 years as a Disciples of Christ pastor. He and his wife Lori now cultivate 10 acres in Norwalk, Iowa called Taproot Garden, Tim frequently shares the spiritual lessons the land has taught him — something he also chronicles in his book, Home by Another Way: Harvesting Taproot’s Wisdom.
Tim offered this intriguing word: Viriditas.
The word comes from the writings of St. Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century Benedictine abbess, mystic, musician and healer. It is a cross between the Latin words for “truth” and “green.” Hildegard used it to describe the greening, ever-renewing power of the Spirit that we see around us in nature, and, when we’re paying attention, can sense in the soul.
Tim sent me a photo of the sculpture he and Lori commissioned for Taproot Garden — the creation of a Belgian artist whose first name interestingly enough is Hilde (last name DeBruyne). In the work, the Holy Spirit appears — not from on high as in so many representations — but bursts forth from soil, the earth, the ever-renewing source of new life. Tim and Lori planted a garden of fresh herbs around the sculpture.
Viriditas. Thank you, Tim. This just might the one word we all need as we travel with our hopes through 2023.
Many thanks to Pat Leyko Connelly, poet, photographer, musician and curator of spiritual programs for The Church on the Hill in Weston VT, which sponsored this year’s “Writing the Prologue to Your New Year” online retreat.
