The Epiphany/New Years/Winter Solstice-Star Word That Chose Me

On Thursday afternoon, a friend, fellow spiritual director, and a chaplain at the local cancer clinic texted me, “Hey, wanted to let you know I do an Epiphany/New Year’s/Winter Solstice ritual called Star Words–it’s like picking a word for your year…I have some left...Do you want me to choose a word for you?” 

Words are my love language. I could hardly pass up this soulful invitation. I wasn’t in the New Year’s frame of mind this past week, and I feel New Year’s energy (read that post here!) in the early autumn. This invitation felt like the least I could do to acknowledge the beginning of 2024.

What would the word be? I hoped it would be meaningful and apparent that it was for me. 

My Epiphany/New Year/Winter Solstice Star Word arrived via text an hour later. The word she had drawn/chosen was melody. 

It took me a while to warm up to this word. I appreciate music. But I’m not in my heart a music person. I don’t know artists aside from Taylor (Swift, obviously) and my favorite folk singer, Carrie Newcomer. I never know new music, from old music. I’m constantly embarrassing my teenagers and shocking my husband with how little I know about the world of music. So, the word melody didn’t feel quite right to me at first glance. 

Friday morning, as I sat down with my cup of tea and journal early in the morning, I decided to explore this Star Word gift, the word melody. Maybe what wasn’t apparent on the surface could be found with some deeper reflection. 

I did what I always do: I looked up the definition. This is my way of starting at the beginning. 

mel·o·dy

/ˈmelədē/

noun

noun: melody plural noun: melodies

1. a sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying.

With the clarity of a definition, ideas and invitations began to coalesce in my soul. Something smaller and deeper stirred as I let the words cross-pollinate with all the other thoughts, realities, and ponderings already growing in my soul.

The first hint that I should consider melody with a little more “heart-fullness” was understanding that a melody is a sequence of single notes. 

A melody is simple. Its single notes played together in a sequence. Those simple, small, singular notes create something satisfying. One definition says the series of single notes that make a melody is “catchy.” I like that, something that stays and becomes a refrain, one single note at a time.

Singular began to feel like an invitation to simplicity. One note played at a time can create something satisfying. Is this another way of inviting me into the power of presence and giving my full attention to each moment? A melody is not an example of multi-tasking. It’s an example of one note at a time, played in their fullness to create something beautiful-together. 

Melodies are what we hum and make songs recognizable, even for me, a not-really-music person. When I hum a tune or try to talk about a song with my teens, I’m communicating the melody, that catchy, recognizable part of the music. The harmony creates depth, but I don’t hum or reconzine the harmony. It’s the melody that communicates.

Interesting questions started to form…

• What is the melody of my life?

• What is the recognizable (catchy) part of how I live?

• What about the word satisfaction?

Satisfying also feels like an unfolding invitation. It’s easy for me to overlook satisfying feelings in a rush for excellence, the wow factor, bigger and better. Isn’t that what smaller and deeper is about, satisfaction in small joys and deeper delights?

The animating energy¹ of satisfaction feels like balance, a sense of just rightness. In a culture and marketplace built on consuming more, bigger, and better, seeking satisfaction can feel edgy and counter-cultural.

It took me a while, but…

Melody is the right epiphany/New Year’s/Winter solstice-star word! It’s the perfect, unexpected mix of smaller and deeper. I wouldn’t have chosen it, but melody chose me. Epiphany is a season in the church calendar. Melody, as part of Epiphany, doesn’t have to be my word for the year, but I think it’s my word for now, for this season. It feels right.

• Do you have a word for the year? A word for the season? Let me know what your word is and how you are working with it!

Photo by Clark Young on Unsplash

A Collect² for Melody

Melody maker, songwriter. Your breath is melody and harmony, satisfying, fulfilling, and pleasing to our ears. May the melody of our lives be satisfying. Unfulfilled longings and seemingly unnavigable divisions mark our life and time. And yet divine love, compassion, and peace sing through it all in a faint but discernable melody. May the singular, satisfying melody of hope be enough. 

Reading life is where I share what I’ve been reading recently or books that I’ve read that I’m still thinking about months or years later.

Two books I finished recently:

• Disobedient Women: How A Small Group of Faithful Women Exposed Abuse, Brought Down Powerful Pastors and Ignited an Evangelical Reckoning by Sarah Stankorb. (This book was hard to read. I’m glad I read it)

• Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day by Kaitlin B. Curtice. (I really enjoyed this book; it was a good, if unintentional, counterbalance to the Disobedient Women book.)

Two books I started (recently) but won’t finish:

• Chasing Slow by Erin Loechner (I wanted to like this book. I love the title. In many ways, the title gave me precisely what I needed.)

• The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (I know, people love this book. The first chapter was about a child bride. I know it’s reality and happens, but I was not in the state of mind to read about it.)

Two books I’m currently reading:

• The Comfort of Crow: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl (I love this book!)

• All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks (I love this one too! So much wisdom.)

Two books I’m looking forward to reading/finishing:

• On Our Best Behavior: The Severn Deadly Sinds and The Price Women Pay To Be Good by Elise Loehnr (I started this a few months ago and set it aside. I’m anxious to get back to it.)

• Uprooted: Recovering the Legacy of the Places We’ve Left Behind by Grace Olmstead (This book came recommended by a friend. It’s about a woman leaving her small-town Idaho roots for the East Coast. As a small-town Idaho girl myself. I’m interested in her reflections.)

Photo by Tetiana Padurets on Unsplash

Lectio Divina is an invitation to the practice of lectio divina. This a reminder to read for transformation rather than information. Smaller and deeper is hiding in plain sight daily when we slow down and notice what our hearts are whispering. Read the following passage slowly, more than one time, and notice if a word or phrase catches your attention. Invite those words into your week and see what deeper invitation they might hold.

I found this somewhere online this week. I loved the words and texted this to my kids this week. It’s a good reminder for us all.

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, do it. Make your mistakes. Next year and forever.” ~ Neil Gaiman

1. Rob Bell talks about “animating energy”-I love this idea that words have an energy that flows around and through them that brings life. I’m always asking myself, what is the animating-life-giving energy of this word?

2. A Collect is a form of prayer in the Book of Common Prayer. Learn more about the structure (and beauty) of the Collect here.