A "Word for the Year"

I have a wise and seasoned writer-friend who has exposed me, through her latest books, to the spiritual practice of focusing on a single word of Scripture. I had several “bless-my-socks-off” moments as I read her just-released Ordinary Graces, published by Abingdon Press. One chapter that I put my emotional pause button on was “Kindness.” 

Before I say more, let me introduce my friend Lucinda Secrest McDowell (I call her “Cindy”).  We met in the early 1980s as students at Wheaton Graduate School. I was working on my master’s in communications and she, who already had a master’s from seminary and had served with international evangelism conferences, was picking up a few extra courses. My first “wow” moment with her was learning that, as a Gordon seminary student, she lived with Elisabeth Elliot, well-known Christian author whose credits included The Shadow of the Almighty, the biography of her late husband and missionary martyr Jim Elliot. That book had been pivotal in my spiritual journey.

As our friendship continued, mostly by mail, Cindy pursued mentors’ admonition that she develop her gifts of speaking and writing. From her home in Connecticut she now sustains a world-wide speaking and writing ministry.  She’s also in touch with the real world, with her “day job” as a substitute teacher at the local high school.

Widely read, a deep thinker, Cindy’s writings reveal depth and compassion.  I dog-eared several chapters to reconsider later, but “kindness” grabbed me the hardest this time through. She cited a Parade magazine article that said half the people in a recent survey said the simple virtue of kindness had deteriorated in recent years.

For Christians, whose ultimate model of kindness is Jesus Christ, that’s a call to introspection and to inspiration. 

Cindy recalled an impulse purchase of a little sign that said “Be Kinder Than Necessary.” The more she looked at it and thought about it, she decided to make it her focus word of the year. She wrote, “I determined to explore every aspect of the word and incorporate every dimension into my soul” (p.120).

That resonated in my heart because of an unexpected affirming line in an E-mail I received from someone whose emotional issues regularly muddied her outlook: “I believe you are a kind person.”

 Still (as Cindy points out about herself) I am a person in progress by the grace of Jesus Christ.  And reading books like this one (and her similar previous word-focus book, Dwelling Places) is part of the Lord’s unique curriculum for my spiritual grooming.

If you need a two-page-a-day boost and challenge in your spiritual  walk, I commend her book. And if you have decided on a “word of the year,” would you consider sharing it in the comments section?