blogs :: Going Awry :: January 1, 2009

All You Need is Love

by Greta Bergquist

In 2007, instead of a New Year’s Resolution, I decided to pick a word to focus on for the year after reading Christine Kane's post about resolution revolutions. My word was courage. 2008’s word was imagination. Both words were perfect for their respective years, teaching me much about my identity as a child of God. It was odd to come upon Shane’s prayer for a new year this November, which includes asking for courage and imagination. I wondered what comes fittingly after such things.

Imagination has been particularly good for me to remember in a year of working in bureaucratic systems, where it often feels change is made a millimeter at a time. Focusing on imagination has enlivened my spirit, reminding me our God is a God who creates, and it is good to participate in that creation in so many different ways. It’s also been good to remember that I bring all of who God created me to be to life, no matter what sort of box even I sometimes want to fit myself in. The vast amounts of grace God has for creation are overwhelmingly outside the realms I’d so often like to limit God to, and myself. I’ve learned a lot this year about keeping my eyes open to the unexpected gifts God gives even on a daily basis.

December rolled around this year, I read Shane’s prayer, and started thinking about 2009. A few obvious word choices came to mind: peace, faith, hope…and then that line from the love chapter kept reverberating: “the greatest of these is love.” But I didn’t really want my word to be love, so I ignored this verse on repeat in my head.

Then my cousin sent a letter during our recent Seattle snowstorms, ending with something about how love is the ultimate ice-softener, not salt, and how her prayer and challenge for next year is to seek out opportunities to love. And I thought, crap. Well, really I thought something else, but crap will suffice.

Since reading Lynda’s letter, every day it’s come up, from my grandfather reminding me I am much loved to a random pastor telling me Jesus can help me learn how to love. I think love is going to be my word for 2009, and I’m not too sure about it. I think this whole love thing might be beyond me, which is probably why I’m supposed to focus on it. Courage and imagination seem so much easier compared to this loving business.