Word of the Year: How Solitude Transforms, Service Endures, and Teaching Expands
Discover how intentional solitude refines your soul, service deepens your influence, and teaching multiplies your growth—one word and one step at a time.
Two quick updates for you before I begin today’s post.
1. Word of the Year
I began the year with a series of posts on the Word of the Year project. If you missed those, I encourage you to go back and read them. There is a ton of great information on how to choose, start, and learn from choosing one word for one year (no, it’s not too late to start!).
In late January, I hosted an online meet-up to discuss your Word of the Year and what you can learn from it. We shared our Words with one another and discussed what we hoped to gain from them.
On Thursday, May 22, I will host a short gathering to encourage you and hear from one another about what we are learning from our Words. We will meet at 7 p.m. CDT. Anyone is welcome. Let’s grow together!
2. Bits of Knowledge
Second, my 2025 Word of the Year is KNOWLEDGE. I’ve committed to reading more, listening to more podcasts, and delving deeper into the knowledge banks from around the world. As part of this challenge for myself, I’m collecting little nuggets from what I am reading. Once a week, I am posting my top quotes on Instagram. I encourage you to follow along to see what I’m gathering.
To give you a taste of what I’m reading and sharing, I'll share three of those quotes and a few thoughts on them today and next week. I’m sharing these in no particular order because I’m not quite sure which I like best.
Solitude
“Solitude is liberty indeed.”
-Christopher Burney
Some people hate solitude. They are such a people person that they can’t imagine being alone for more than a few moments at a time. This isn’t me. I enjoy my alone time. However, I do find myself being alone in groups of people. I go to coffee shops by myself. I work out most weekdays alone. I’ll go shopping on my own. I’ve even attended Sporting KC matches by myself.
In those moments, I might be alone, but not by myself.
When studying disciplines that draw me closer to God, solitude comes to the top of the list. But being alone in groups of people isn’t solitude. We can easily point to Jesus' practice of taking moments to disappear from the crowds and his best friends.
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. -Luke 5:15-16 NIV
This feels intimidating: being alone with God for hours or days. How do I pray for that length of time? What do I do with myself?
The above quote is from a World War II English prisoner of war who spent almost two full years (526 days) in solitary confinement. Solitude was meant as torture by his captors (which it was), but in that prison cell, Christopher Burney found a secret about solitude.
It is where true liberty is found.
How does this happen? Solitude allows us to think deeply about the most profound aspects of life. The Nazi’s thought they had bound Burney in a way to break him, but it lasted as long as it took to find that secret. Life is found in solitude.
“Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude, we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self…”
-Henri Nouwen
And as Henri Nouwen, the Dutch priest and theologian, wrote above, “solitude is the furnace of transformation.” This is what Burney found in that Nazi cell. By the time he found physical liberty, his soul had long been released.
Personally, this is a challenge for me to find moments, both long and short, to be truly alone with God, pray, and allow the “furnace of transformation” to burn away my illusions.
Teach
Think of all the things one collects in one’s house by living in the same place for a long period of time. The Kingdom disciple teaches from his or her storehouse of personal experiences of God’s rule in the commonplace events of real life.
-Dallas Willard
When it comes to leadership, I have a simple theory: You are a leader. Although your place, position, and capacity may vary, each of us is a leader. Dallas Willard's book The Divine Conspiracy shares one way we can expand our leadership.
Another way of looking at this comes from my list of all-time top quotes,
“Consistency compounds.”
-John Maxwell
It is the day after day, week after week, year after year that builds your life. As you live life, you develop a collection of wisdom to share with those around you. What are you building through consistency in your life? What will you pass on to others around you?
Again, this might be a handful of family members you lead, a team at work, or a group of thousands (or more) through your social media feed. The challenge is to build within yourself a collection (storehouse) of eternal value. In practical terms, this means spending time in areas that hold deeper meaning (i.e., reading, studying, praying, worshipping, as opposed to watching Netflix, using Instagram, or playing Candy Crush).
It also means a willingness to walk through (not around, over, or under) difficult periods of life. In the above section, Henri Nouwen declared “solitude is the furnace of transformation,” but, of course, there are multiple furnaces for life change, and trials and tribulations top that list.
All of these bits of wisdom we cobble together into a vast storehouse to pass along to those we lead, interact with, and lend a hand to.
Service > Power
In the end, Christians live not to increase their own tribe and group through power plays and coercion but to serve the good of all the people of the city [culture] (regardless of what beliefs others hold).
-Timothy Keller
If I could boil down my concern about the American church and Christianity, this would be it: Too many followers of Jesus put their own good (for themselves and their tribe) above those who don’t look, feel, or smell like them. Worse, a subset of this group of Christians doesn’t just put themselves first; they actively work to put the outsider in a worse position.
Keller is working from Jeremiah’s prophecy to the people of Judah sent into exile in Babylon to make his case.
“And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” -Jeremiah 29:7 NLT
Interestingly, one of the most popular verses in Christian culture and beyond comes just a few verses later:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
This is a tremendous promise from God, full of hope, prosperity, and peace. Consider this, though: what if God expects us to follow through on His command in verse 7 before He grants us the extraordinary promise in verse 11?
There is a real fear that if we live this way and genuinely seek the good of those outside my tribe, I might lose control. My kids may hear things that contradict my beliefs. I might be forced to interact with men and women who have vastly different worldviews. I may not be able to say or do all I feel I have the right to say or do.
The fear is real, but when I care for others as I would want to be cared for, I develop a connection with them. When I seek what is best for those who are different than me, I create an opportunity to speak into their lives. When I die to my hopes and desires, I allow Christ to live through me, even in a culture that doesn’t value him.
An excellent example of this is a writer I follow on Substack. Seth Keysor is a district attorney in Minnesota, which shows that he seeks the good of his city. But that isn’t why Seth is “known.” He also writes a popular newsletter and appears on podcasts and radio stations to discuss the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s a side hustle, but he’s good at it.
Seth is also a Christian. He’s never over-the-top, but it won’t take you long to determine his beliefs (especially if you listen to the podcast he co-hosts, Only Weird Games).
It may seem odd, but it's a way for him to contribute to the good of the culture he lives in. Followers of Jesus could be angry about the way the NFL has become a place of worship for millions of Americans, even replacing church, or they could be like Seth and embrace the culture.
This is what the early church did to change the world. From a position of weakness, they served the culture around them. In America, we’ve lost this concept with the position of strength in the Christian culture we’ve enjoyed for generations. It is okay for that time to be gone, and God is calling us to serve everyone around us.
What Are You Hearing?
This is a shortened version of what I posted on Instagram a few weeks ago. I shared a few other quotes, so I encourage you to take a look. I’d also love to know what you are hearing, reading, or listening to. What quote is pricking your heart?
Would you consider sharing it in a comment so everyone can read it?
Finally, thank you for your subscription, and a shout-out to Chris for his paid subscription! I'm amazed that you appreciate my writing enough to make space in your inbox. I would love to hear your thoughts. Would you take a moment to leave a comment?
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Thanks Marlena. We have to be careful to both encourage those who are following Jesus and those who aren't and it is a fine line!
Thanks so much Ed. I appreciate your encouragement and support!