Word of the Year

I am a word person, and my word for 2024 was “Rise.”

I had in mind Jesus’s resurrection from the dead, getting up earlier (an unreached goal of mine every year), and overcoming obstacles.

I hadn’t thought of rising dough or the kneading it takes to ensure the rising works right. 

I haven’t had a year of suffering or anything like that, but I have felt the Lord’s gentle fists, kneading me, stretching me, tossing me- just like a man we watched in a pizza shop, working the dough, getting it to rise to just the right consistency before shaping it.

There is hardly anything more homey than creased, calloused, clean hands covered in the flour of the daily bread, shaping dough to make it into what it was designed to be.

I have also been working my way through 1 Peter- a loving letter to a suffering church. I can’t help but think of Frodo and Sam clinging to the fiery side of Mount Doom when Peter writes, “The end of all things is at hand.” He isn’t necessarily a doomsdayer though when he adds, “therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.”

Be kneaded before you rise. 

The kneading for me has been a gentle reminder each morning from the Lord that my mind and heart are His. They should not first of all, nor exclusively, belong to whatever messages, emails, or headlines are posted to my phone screen as soon as I awake in the morning.

If I am going to be self-controlled and sober-minded, I cannot first be media-controlled or cyborg-minded. It is a battle though. Some of those messages and emails are important. We’ve had a flurry of urgent headlines this year. It’s hard to set it down. The gentle pressure of kneading works my tight hold on control right out and allows the dough of my heart to rise like it should when I let it.

Peter said it was for the sake of our prayers. My relationship with the Lord depends on my willingness to be kneaded. My ability to rise rests in His willingness to be wounded, not in my will power, my ability, or my good works. 

And the process of kneading and rising is a daily task, a humble occupation, a repetitive activity. Perhaps the dailiness of it is just the thing I needed to reflect on. Rising, when I chose the word, seemed a gradual ascent, smooth and triumphant as a hot air balloon. Rising now seems like the inevitable outcome of allowing my heart to be kneaded by Christ, a daily up-down, up-down of the tug of war between the spirit and the flesh.

I haven’t chosen a word for 2025 yet. I have no way to know what will happen or where the year will end up, but I know that if I allow the Head Baker to continue His work of kneading, then rising inevitably follows, and the daily bread is nourishing for all. 

What word would you choose?