2026: Whisper

In years past, I have been quite ambitious about setting New Year's Resolutions.  In fact, when I look back at some of the things my younger self endeavored to do at this time of year, I'm almost embarrassed by my unrealistic ideas. For most of middle school and high school, year after year, I'd declare that I'm going to get healthy, read more, and grow my faith... sometimes with other goals sprinkled in there.

Somewhere in my late twenties or early thirties, making a list of resolutions no longer benefited me; instead, I began choosing a word of the year—a word I felt God was telling me to focus on. They have included: WORSHIP. QUIET. STORIES*. SERVE + SABBATH. DANCE.  But even these have felt less meaningful over the last few years.

In December, however, I clearly felt called to a word for 2026: WHISPER.

God sent a beautiful affirmation.  An artist friend wrote in his monthly email about some friends of his who had recently been on a silent retreat and how he, in turn, had been motivated to allow more times of silence, calling his experience so far "unexpectedly powerful."

Like darkness, silence isn't something you create.  It is the absence of something.

Have you ever been in a crowded room and struggled to hear the person you are trying to talk to? The ambient noise is overwhelming, but the more the person raises their voice, the more it seems that everyone else raises their voices as well. You stare at their lips, hoping to make sense of it all. You wish you had a remote control that could turn down everyone else because you know who you want to hear from.  If that were possible, the person you are speaking to would need to do no more than whisper.

A few nights ago, my husband tried to open a bag of candy in bed.  In the still of the night, the crinkles of the plastic tore me from my sleep. It seemed unbearably loud.  It was not, though. It was just that everything else was quiet.

I don't know yet all the things I will learn from my focus on WHISPER, but I am already hearing that I will need to hear less.  When you turn down other noises, you more easily hear what's important.







*You can read my 2021 reflection on stories here: STORIES.