The Word of the Year

Some people start the new year with resolutions—hoping that the new year will give them an opportunity for a reset. You know—new year, new me. I’ve narrowed that down to just one word—and not really an aspirational word—just a word to describe what I expect the year to hold.

The year after our son died the word was “arduous.” And that year lived up to its word—every day was a painful slog. The next year’s word started out as “disaster” and the year seemed aptly named—there was the pandemic, church in our living room, and more family illness. Then a storm of straight-line winds tore through our town destroying everything in its path, and I learned a new word—derecho. And that seemed like just the right word to describe the year.  

But there is a God who loved us and gave himself for us, so I didn’t stay lost in grief and disaster. He was with us in the slog. He was with us in the disaster. And he was there in the derecho. It took a while, but finally, I could see and feel his presence. So my word for last year became “hope.” And although much of what I hoped for did not happen, I knew for sure that what happens on earth could not destroy my hope that is kept safe in heaven, stored up there by Jesus who ever lives to intercede for us.

What about 2025? When I thought about the word to define the coming year, what came to mind was “peace.” Peace seems like a fitting word to follow the year of hope. And not just a cessation of conflict, but the active, all-encompassing peace of shalom—the Hebrew word for peace. The Bible Project defines shalom this way:

Shalom is the ancient Hebrew word for peace, meaning whole, complete, and with no part missing. The word “shalom” can refer to a state of being, but it is also active. We can bring shalom in the world by working to repair what has been broken.

The unfolding story of how God himself brings shalom back to us and to the world is what the whole Bible is about. Isaiah prophesies that the Messiah will be the prince of shalom (Isaiah 9:6). On the night of Jesus’s birth, the angels announce shalom—peace—to all who believe (Luke 2:14). Paul tells us that Jesus is himself our peace (Ephesians 2:14). Jesus is the repairer of what is broken.

Jesus took on himself all that was broken in our world and gave his own body and Spirit for us—he became broken so that we could be restored. He has repaired us with his life, death, and resurrection. He has met our deepest need for forgiveness for our many sins and life now and forever with God.

Shalom is God’s gift to us in Jesus, but it’s an active gift—it must be used by us to also be bringers of healing and repair. We are called to participate with Jesus in the work of shalom—to be instruments of peace and repairers of what is broken. The powerful breath of God that gave life to the first humans, reappears in God’s story when the risen Jesus comes to his disciples, shows them his pierced hands and feet and says,

‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’

John 20:21-22

Jesus breathed into the disciples his life—the Holy Spirit. God’s breath gives us life and now as his disciples, his breath gives us eternal life and the power to bring life to a dying world. We have the Helper in us now, so we can help.

Sometimes when things are broken, the repair makes them stronger and more beautiful. I found this out when I broke my ankle this summer. The doctor told me, “The bad news is this your ankle is broken in two places. The good news is that our bones are the one part of our body that becomes stronger after it is healed.” And think about the Japanese method of creating pottery called Kintsugi, where new pottery is created from broken pieces of pottery repaired with gold. It’s more beautiful than the original. So it is with the restoration of the world. I think that in heaven we will love to sit around and tell the stories of how God wove everything together for our good and his glory. And even when we remember the sad and hard parts, we will see how everything was moving toward shalom.

So, if you don’t have a word for your year yet, why not make it “shalom”? It’s God’s gift to his people and it’s our gift to share. Here is the Lord’s blessing on us. It’s a blessing we can take and share with others:

The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24–26

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