Reject complicity and provide comfort instead

It’s time to reflect on words that reflect on our society, writes Rev. John Pentland

Christmas provides a natural vantage point from which to look back over the year. Perhaps our reflections are inspired by calming music, the cocooning in the darker, shorter days, or by the religious and non-religious rituals we observe.

All of these make for a space to look back at the past year. We can do this on our own, or with others. Time to reflect is a gift.

One of the December rituals I have come to enjoy is the unveiling of the so-called word of the year.

Various groups, such as the Merriam-Webster dictionary organizations, and the American Dialect Society, reflect back and choose a word or words that speak to the most important themes or trends of the year.

Sometimes, what’s named as word of the year is something new in language. For example, a few years ago, “selfie” — the practice of taking pictures of ourselves on the phone — was born.

The word of the year lists for 2017 are now out and contain many words I haven’t heard used yet, such as “nothingburger.”

A nothingburger describes an experience of shallowness, or letdown, or lack of nourishing content.

Dictionary.com chose the word “complicit” as its 2017 word of the year. Complicit is what we are when we choose to participate in an illegal act. The word came to our collective attention when Saturday Night Live released a spoof advertisement for a perfume called Complicit with Scarlett Johansson posing as Ivanka Trump.

This word of the year is a despairing word. We may find ourselves asking: “Is there any hope or are we witnessing the apocalypse?”

Is there a “word” from the Christian religion that speaks to this dark and dreary world? How is religion itself complicit in the fate of many world conflicts?

Alternatively, is there a timeless word? What good word or word of truth might we choose to hear in 2017 to respond to this global experience of “complicity?”

I have been pondering, “What might the word of the year have been in, say, 600 BC?”

Speaking to an exiled people held ransom by bad news, political strife and natural disaster, the Jewish prophet Isaiah spoke about the coming birth of a messiah and of the ways the “mountains will be brought low and the rough places made smooth.”

We are told Isaiah rose before the desperate crowd. He cleared his throat and uttered the word of God. The word of the year was: “Comfort.”

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says God, he cried to the crowd. The word he spoke wasn’t judgment, or shame, or guilt. It was comfort.

The word etymologically means, “with strength.”

Isaiah also spoke of the birth of Jesus as God’s word for a hungry people. Jesus’ birth marks the entry of God’s word into human form; God’s speech made flesh.

Jesus’ life of love, compassion, healing and justice points to a way that would confront and conquer complicity.

Jesus’ birth celebrated by Christians is the word of God in the flesh. It is a word of life in our world of complicity. It is hope in action. This is good news, not fake news.

Christmas is a time to reflect and reset our path forward. The birth of this “word” isn’t a nothingburger message. Rather, it is a word, a truth, that endures the test of time and calls us to action with comfort, with strength, to persevere and create the world God imagines. A world full of peace, justice and compassion for all.

Now that’s a word to celebrate.

The word (God) spoke wasn’t judgment, or shame, or guilt. It was comfort.