Happy New Year!
And, so, we enter yet another new year. New beginnings. New possibilities.
Learning to Choose a Guiding Word:
Some twenty years ago, I was challenged to set a spiritual goal for the new year. Initially, I balked at the suggestion, assuming it probably wasn’t very “spiritual” to set such a goal. Finally, I capitulated, and wrote in my journal, “I want to learn to be a better pray-er!”
The decision to embrace that challenge changed the trajectory of my spiritual journey. Over subsequent years, I have moved from setting a spiritual goal to choosing a short sentence, phrase, or even a single word to establish focus for the upcoming year.
Many behavioral researchers suggest choosing a word rather than making resolutions or setting specific goals may be a more effective way to begin a new year or even a new season. This method seems to nudge the brain in a direction which aligns with core values and often leads to transformational change.
Serenity – Anchor for a New Decade:
In January 2020, at the dawn of a new decade, I chose three words to guide me into not only the new year, but hopefully into the remainder of the decade. Now, at the mid-point of the 2020’s, I see the benefit of the decision to choose the words:
Serenity Stillness Simplicity
Serenity was the anchor theme. I have long suffered from a restless soul, and restlessness seems the opposite of serenity. In his famous Confessions, St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
I spent a quarter century working for the Washington State government as an Employee Assistance Professional. Employee Assistance Programs work with employees experiencing job performance difficulties, often related to interpersonal or addiction issues. In that workplace environment, I became familiar with not only addictions but also 12-step recovery programs.
A powerful 12-step tool is The Serenity Prayer, and over the course of many years and many roles—not only working for government but also on staff at my local church (Lake City Church in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho)—this prayer has become a powerful and frequently used staple in my spiritual formation toolbox.
Written by Christian theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr in the 1940’s, the prayer begins:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can; and
Wisdom to know the difference.
Serenity anchors my soul in God’s peace, which transcends human comprehension.
Stillness Quiets Chaos:
The second word I chose was Stillness.
The significance of stillness first seeped into my spirit on a frigid Montana Christmas morning when I was 5 years old.
My little sister and I were anxious to try out the new sled we received for Christmas, so Mom bundled us up in snowsuits, mittens, socks, and boots.
I was ready first, and for several minutes, lingered alone in our back yard, which was covered in a thick blanket of freshly fallen snow. Grasping the cord tethered to our new sled in my small mittened hand, I was insulated from every sound except stillness.
At that age, I had no frame of reference for a spiritual encounter. I could never have imagined those few minutes of Christmas-morning stillness might transition many decades later into a yearlong theme to help guide my soul.
All grown up now, I live in an era chock-full of distractions, I realize I must be intentional to cultivate the discipline of stillness. For several years, I have practiced learning to listen to the whisper of God’s voice. In this process, I have worked with a spiritual director, have trained to become a spiritual director, and find great joy in walking alongside others who long for stillness that enables them to hear the same Spirit’s “still, small voice,” which spoke to Elijah (See 1 Kings 19:11-13) thousands of years ago.
Psalms 46:10 is a classic verse in Scripture beckoning the soul into stillness. The psalmist wrote, “Be still and know that I am God.” I often meditate on these words, phrase by phrase:
BE STILL and know that I am God!
My egocentric soul needs reminding God is God, and I am not. Even though tempted to try and figure out what God is up to, my finite understanding cannot grasp fully God’s infinite ways.
BE STILL and know!
In stillness, I am more self-aware, and my mind becomes receptive to whatever my soul needs to learn.
BE Still!
Rather than remaining entangled in pre-conceived notions and long-established patterns of thinking, reacting, arguing, and behaving, I’m reminded to simply listen to the Spirit’s whisper and surrender to God’s love.
BE!
With my entire being—physically, emotionally, relationally, intellectually and spiritually—embrace the Divine mystery. Be present to God, others, and myself. Trust God will enable me to love even those with whom I don’t see eye to eye and will guide me in right paths!
Simplicity Helps De-clutter:
Finally, I chose to focus on Simplicity.
A few years ago, I attended only a few minutes of an organizational workshop during which the presenter told her audience, “If you haven’t used an item in a year, or if you don’t love it ‘70 percent,’ it’s time to get rid of it.” I took the “70 percent” rule to heart and became a “Do-you-love-it-70% evangelist until one day my husband said, “Sue, if you don’t stop it, I’m going to start wondering if I love YOU 70 percent!” Oops!!
Since then, the popular guru of tidying up, Marie Kondo, suggests assessing an item’s worth by the joy it sparks within you. I haven’t read Kondo’s book since I’m not sure my marriage would survive the reading!
Something in the human psyche seems to long for simplicity. While my husband and I were on vacation a few years ago in Albany, New York, we stopped at a Walgreens to pick up some band-aids. A pony-tailed gentleman—perfect stranger to us—walked in at the same time and began lamenting about all the problems modern technology creates, telling us he longed for the “good old days” of the 1960’s and 70’s when life was simpler. Ron’s glance matched my thought. Neither of us recalled this era as being especially simple!
A few years ago, I commented to a trusted Christian friend, “I feel like God is trying to say something to me and can’t figure out what.” She referred me to a spiritual director, Dr. Debbie Gill, Sherpa’s Founder and Director. I often describe my introduction to spiritual direction–particularly to contemplative spiritual practices which often stress simplicity—as “finding my soul’s true home.”
The Apostle Paul urged simplicity, telling early believers to aspire to lead a quiet life. (1 Thessalonians 4:11).
François Fénelon, a 17th Century theologian, exclaimed, “O, how amiable this simplicity is!”
St. Ignatius, a 16th Century mystic and founder of the Jesuits, prayed, “Give me only your grace and love…”
A.W. Tozer, a 20th Century Christian pastor, in his book, The Pursuit of God, claimed that even the modern church clutters Christ’s message, saying, “Every age has its own characteristics…we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity, which is in Christ, is rarely found among us.”
The greater our culture’s complexity, the greater seems the yearning for simplicity. Once upon a time, contemplative spirituality was found in only Orthodox or Catholic faith traditions. Today, many Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians are drawn to ancient Christian traditions, one woman explaining her longing to know not only the Word of God but the God of the Word.
As I pursue simplicity, I discover new ways to assimilate and enjoy more fully the meaningful faith journey with which I’ve been blessed.
A Prayer for the Decade:
To help guide me through 2020, I wrote a prayer, which I updated for the second half of the decade:
God,
Grant me the serenity to recognize what is not mine to do, those who are not mine to help, and that which you haven’t assigned me to manage.
Jesus, grant me the courage to live with simplicity, to get rid of all that clutters my environment, my schedule, my thoughts, my emotions, and my spirit.
Spirit, grant me the wisdom to put into practice the First and Greatest Commandment, to love you with my entirety; to love others in a way that reflects God’s love; and, finally, to love myself in a God-centered, rather than ego-driven, manner.
Help me surrender to You when my emotions need serenity, my spirit needs stillness, and my body needs simple restoration.
In the name of Jesus who modeled serenity, stillness, and simplicity,
Amen
Sue Reeve is a graduate of Sherpa’s Cohort 1. She resides in the beautiful resort hamlet of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Married for over 45 years to Ron, a great guy and gifted amateur photographer (responsible for photos in today’s post), she is mom to two married adult daughters, grandma to five amazing grandkids, and great grandma to an adorable little boy, born in October 2024.
Sue, who is committed to lifelong learning and transformational Christian Spiritual formation, writes a bi-weekly blog (www.suereeve.com). Her article on Serenity was published in the Coeur d’Alene Press in 2020.