There are always interesting ways to look back at 2024 and the dictionaries do that by telling us what word people looked up the most.Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is “polarization.” It means division, but it’s a very specific kind of division–we are tending toward the extremes rather than toward the center.
Maybe you felt that way this year. It was an interesting political year, which caused differences in many areas of our life to be highlighted. Many of us lost people that we love and are faced with challenges we never thought we would navigate. The interactions over the holidays may have revealed more ways that you are different from your loved ones than ways you are the same. All of this can be true, and as we walk into a brand new, fresh year, we have the opportunity to focus on and show others what we are for and not allow what we are against to define us.
We can find ways to bring ourselves and each other back from the extremes of polarization by uniting in the good things that God is giving us. Life, love and joy for all. Happy New Year!