My inspired word from 2025, ubuntu, was a daily reminder to build community with others, including those I did not yet know or who I did not know well. I closed the year by going on a walk with someone I had been distant from for several months. I was reminded of all we have in common as we walked and talked together. An ubuntu life helps me see how we are better together. It reminds me that slamming doors or building walls are not the right responses to difference.
For 2026, I settled on a very plain word "walk" for three reasons.
First, walking is a good metaphor for life. Even at a time when people get in a car to go short distances, walking is the way almost everyone gets from room to room in their homes and workplaces. Mobility is a cherished ability, especially when someone is recovering from a broken hip or a torn a ligament in their foot or leg. This year, I want to be conscious of my life as a walk. A walk with God and with the other people placed around me.
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| A brief stop on a summer hike |
Second, walk is a key word in a Bible passage special to my husband and I. "But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have peace with God and fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). By focusing on "walk," I will invest time in my relationship with my spouse, even as we anticipate our 30th wedding anniversary in the fall.
Third, I do enjoy physically walking every day. I don't have a Fitbit to track my steps or calculate the equivalent my daily walking would be in kilometres or miles. Still, I'm motivated to walk to work, to school, run errands (no pun intended), and get fresh air. While walking alone or with a companion, I'm always on the lookout for birds or signs of life in the natural world. Except on the rare occasion when ice pellets are hitting my face, every walk is a delight.
