Alphabet phobia

January 3, 2022

Scripture

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5,14  NIVUK)

Alphabet phobia

How many letters in the Greek alphabet will we deal with this year? Hopefully, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, and Omega won’t be needed for our naming pleasure as we launch a new year. Do we put happy, trepidatious, anxious, hopeful, confident, confused, angry, or some variation or combination of all of them in front of ….. New Year as we greet one another?

I’m liable to want to use any one of them but I realize that each day is its own wonder and opportunity and trying to ascribe character to the next day, let alone a year, is a mug’s game. I am grateful for this day and hope you are experiencing signs of light, life, and human hope.

As each day begins and progresses in its own way the idea that God was “enfleshed” in Jesus – grace and truth, light and the life of humanity became present. And somehow we believe that same “enfleshment” goes on as we engage with the world and one another. Jesus, the Word, dwells in and among us even today and it is our joy to discover this one day at a time.

A Prayer for Today

Dear Lord, there are signs of trouble and anxiety all around me. Give me confidence to trust in your incarnate presence in a fearful world. Help me know that I am a child of God. Amen.  (Emilie Griffin in God With Us, Greg Pennoyer ed.)