Word of the Year

Apparently, the Oxford English Dictionary declared that “post truth” is the 2016 word of the year:

After much discussion, debate, and research, the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2016 is post-truth – an adjective defined as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’.

I have heard this word bandied about all over the place, so it’s quite nice to read a definition of it. It doesn’t quite mean what I thought it meant, and now I’ve seen what the definition is, I can understand the claims that we “are living in a post truth era” and – in part, at least, agree.

Many people in the Blogosphere choose a Word of the Year meant to sum up what they hope to achieve in the coming year, or how they hope to live. I’ve seen words such as Adventure – Creative – Grateful – Mindful…all very good ideas.

I’ve never really subscribed to this “word of the year” idea, but a blog post from Angela, over at Tracing Rainbows caught my eye a week or so ago. She was talking about the Wise Men, and how they were called by God to follow a different way home. God calls us to live in a different way. It is worth popping over to read it. She is better with words than I am. The words she wrote resonated with me, and especially her words:

I want to have the courage to speak out for what is true and just
I want to have the strength to stop and help those in need, not pass by on the other side
I want to have the faith to say ‘this is wrong, and we can work to change it for the better’
I want to have the hope that believes things will be different
and above all
I want to have the love that says ‘OK you are different from me in some way – but I still care about you, and want the best for you’

In shorthand, I want to live a different way.

So my words of the year are “a different way”. This is to remind me what God calls me to do – to live differently to the world, with courage, strength, faith, hope and love. To be a beacon that points to him. To be in the world but not of it. To bring his Kingdom to fruition in this world. To follow his ways.

No matter what is going on in the wider world, I can influence this place, here, where I am, by living a different way.

And so, for 2017 my words are:

A different way