Beloved!

God has given me a word
for the coming year.

My word for 2013 was "Wonder".

My word for 2012 was "Rejoice".

God gave these words
and I lived them
and they changed me.

For 2014
the word God has given me is
"Beloved".

The Sumatanga cross,
created by a member of
The Academy of Spiritual Formation
to honor Sumatanga Retreat Center,
expresses "Beloved" clearly to me:
"Suma" means "highest, best".
"Tanga", to me, means "tangle"
or "dance" (I think of "tango").



In the cross of Christ
we find
the highest, best, most excellent
tangle or dance of love.


The strong, unbreakable bonds
of God's love
in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
hold all of us, each of us
together
to make a
beautiful
blazing
tangled
dance of love.


O God, I pray that
in this year of 2014
I will "beloved"
and I might encourage others to "beloved".


I pray that we might "beloved"
in order to "be love".

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*Happy New Year greetings
*clearly knowing Your word for me
*the first day of "Disciplines"
*the continued brightening of the light born in Advent
*our buddy Berklee
*Ben coming home safe and sound
*knowing our friend is alive
*the grace of new beginnings
*hoppin john and scallops
*walking and praying

With gratitude,
Sally