I like words. According to my editor, I like some words a little too much because she kept cutting them out of my book! I like to learn new words and I really like it when I can find one word that can take the place of many. So when I learned Merriam Webster had released their "Word of the Year" for 2021, I was curious to see what they felt it should be. When I saw the word, I was not surprised. I can't actually put the word in this post for fear that my text may be deemed tantamount to government conspiracy by the checkers who like to flag such things. Let's just say that after 2020's word, "Pandemic", this year's word was a likely follow-up. In 2019, the word was "They". In 2018, it was "Justice". If I keep going down the list in reverse order, I bet you can remember when these words were the ones that ruled our conversations for a moment. And when I really think about the bajillions of times these words have been searched on the internet, I come to this conclusion...
We're all searching the same word to find the angle that fits us best. I would love to think the masses who want to educate themselves on the most recent and pressing social situations do so in an effort to understand one another, but really... I think we're all in search of something that can confirm what we already feel to be true and then we work to use it against anyone on the other side of the fence we've drawn regarding the word. As I read down the list from the past decade, I noticed that this was the list of words that have divided us. It is filled with points of contention that have proven to separate friends and families alike. This makes me sad. It doesn't have to be this way. But in order for our hearts to learn to look past the things that offend us...
Perhaps we should be searching a different Word... the One that proves to be "a lamp unto (our) feet and a light to (our) path." - Psalm 119:105. This is the Word that really has the answers to all the words that tangle us up more than last year's Christmas lights. It is living... powerful... it can cut straight to the heart of the matters we mix up. And as you read it... It reads you! It is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of your heart. It reveals who you are and who you are not... both the good and evil sides of each of us (Hebrews 4:11-13). Now don't get me wrong, searching this Word can end up much like the Merriam-Webster word search if we are only searching for snippets that satisfy our need to feel good or right or justified in our position on a social situation; but if you want a word that speaks to the heart and will endure for ages...
"Every Word of His is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him." - Proverbs 30:5
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