My word for the year 2019: UNION

For the past few years, I have had a "word of the year" to focus on. Union has been so impressed on my mind, that I chose it for 2019.

The week before Christmas, I started seeing the word "union" - not just see it - but it was impressed on my mind. One example was a city I came across while working on family history. Another was in a book I was reading to my children. It was one of those moments when it's like the word was highlighted with a blinking banner. Like it jumped out at me to get my attention.

A day or two later, a video on youtube popped up about people seeing unicorns everywhere right now (merchandise, movies, clothes, etc.) I know in the Bible a unicorn sometimes represents herding/gathering (uniting). The video then went into the unicorn being a symbol of the anti-Christ - trying to UNITE (there's union again) the world in one order, and other meanings, like the idea of the horn representing the pineal gland - spiritual eye/knowledge and/or connection to higher powers (connection or union with God).

The very next day, I happened to listen to a video about how the early Christian church was UNITED. United in worship, united in suffering. Suffering, the preacher (non-LDS) said, was part of their life as Christians of the time. He was talking of the need for unity in the church today if we are going to survive. So there was the theme again.

I got reflecting about how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is moving into an increase of unity through the new curriculum this coming year - we will be studying the same scriptures, the same days in some instances, the same lessons. This has an increased potential for our unity as saints.

Same day, I was also looking up a passage from a book I love called "Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ" written in the 17th century by Jeanne Guyon. I was reading a section that talk about the purging of our hearts (the part I was looking for)... to the end of Divine Union! (the part right after the part I was looking for) There it was again!

There are so many nuances to UNION - I have a lot to meditate on.

I even started thinking about union within myself. Do I believe one thing, but live another thing? Are my works in alignment with my faith? My flesh with my spirit?

Then when I went to the temple this week, family unity stood out to me.

I will be pondering more on these examples of union - my united self (faith/good works), Divine Union with God, union with my husband and family (past through temple work and present), and even union with my church family and world family.