Naming the Year

In the ancient world it was thought that if you knew a person's name you had power over that person. People were understandably cautious in sharing their names. We modern people tend to think that is silly, so we shout our names aloud and email them all over the world. But how silly is the idea that a name brings power? If you see a person walking and shout out their name, they stop and turn to look at you. You stop them in their tracks. That's power! Never forget that the ancients were very wise in their own ways. Ann Voskamp has come up with a new way to get a handle on the new year. She gives names to years. 2008 was the "Year of Giving Thanks." She has come up with a name for 2009. With so many of us feeling out of control and powerless, I wonder if she might be onto something.

For me, 2008 was the year of eucharisteo. It was my word for the year, the word my tongue and heart rolled about over the last twelve months. I named the year a Greek word and daily life was no longer completely Greek to me: indecipherable. I named the year eucharisteo and life began to take on new meaning. The Greek translation of Eucharisteo means to give thanks. It’s what Jesus did at the last supper, at the end of his earthly life, and what I committed to do with all of my life. To take up each day and give thanks for it, to take each moment and savor it, a morsel from His hand, and find sustenance and God in it. In 2008 I began to learn what it means to live eucharistically; what it means to live giving thanks in all things. 2009 now needs naming....Read More