Word for the Year
As revealed in July
In 2025 I had an unusual word for the year, which I then ported into the theme of this year’s online January Winter Solace retreat at The Pilgrimage Inc. The word was resurrection, and it turned out to be a really appropriate word both for my year and that of a few other people associated with me and The Pilgrimage ministry. But even though I try really hard not to be superstitious, it was hard not to feel like making my Word for the Year also the Word for Winter Solace had a somewhat jinxing effect, as two of our guest presenters for the online retreat sustained significant, and traumatically unexpected deaths in their families.
Which is why this coming January’s Winter Solace theme is Grow, and not Forgiveness, the latter of which is my personal word for the year. That’s not to say that forgiveness isn’t going to be popping up at The Pilgrimage Inc. all the same. It is. More on that later. Or elsewhere (like The Pilgrimage Ink).
I have been mulling over forgiveness—the word, the concept, the mechanics—for a very long time, so it could be surprising that it hasn’t been my word for the year before this—except for how I’ve only recently started actually “doing” words for the year. I had a hunch forgiveness was going to be this year’s word last fall, and I was kind of nervous about it, but it’s been very curious to see how having it as the focus has panned out so far.
I don’t have answers to the questions this word is raising for me, but here are some of the dynamics that have presented themselves for consideration in light of the word so far this year:
Institutional financial mismanagement around some concerns I am privy to.
I’ve been preaching at the church that kicked me out in 2015.
When I was in high school, two adult couples who were significant role models to me each divorced. One of the couples remarried each other in the last couple of years.
My undergraduate alma mater, which is also the institution at which I am currently pursuing a DMin, is trying to evade taking responsibility for a decades-long cover-up of criminal abuse that occurred when I was an undergraduate.1
I’m coming to terms with the fact that I actually do, long-term and maybe forever, need a low dose of SSRIs to function relationally. Facing this reality is doing weird things to my sense of self which, I’m pretty sure, is going to require some kind of forgiveness dynamics, too.
All of this impacts me first, which is why I’ve finally decided to introduce the concept here. But I was already mulling over a new course for The Pilgrimage Inc. inviting people who are ready to really wrestle with forgiveness. After Dan Lee interviewed me for his podcast, I realized forgiveness is going to be the key focus of my dissertation, somehow.
We’re not quite ready for this over at The Pilgrimage Ink yet, but one of the primary ways we plan to use that space is for paid conversations about forgiveness. The good, the bad, the ugly. All the questions. All the scenarios. Paid subscriptions will not be comped, partly because this in itself is going to be a new program of The Pilgrimage Inc., but mainly because we want to reserve the space for people who are really serious about having these hard conversations.
My hope for the eventual Pilgrimage class that will come out of this is that, while we may require an application process for people to participate in it, we will find a grant that will enable everyone willing for the deep dive and the challenge such a course will bring to take it for absolutely free.
While you’re waiting for us to turn on the chat, I hope you’ll go over and subscribe to The Pilgrimage Ink so you can get in on all the info as soon as it comes out. Meanwhile, I’ll be over here, mulling over forgiveness for a sermon I’m guest-preaching at our new church in a couple of weeks. I’m preaching on the end of the Lord’s prayer: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and leads us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. I didn’t pick the topic.
Coincidence? I think not.
We’ll be talking about this more, somewhere, because I believe transparency is necessary considering The Pilgrimage Inc’s target demographic and the fact that as of this writing I am persisting in the program at Wheaton (although I actively considered not doing so). For the moment, the Roys Report is the one breaking the story. The account of the sordid mess begins here. TRIGGER WARNING.
If you’re up for it, please sign this petition.
yikes