I started working at St. John’s two years ago. My very first Sunday was January 8, 2023 – Epiphany Sunday. I was immediately introduced to the St. John’s tradition of receiving a Star Word. There are a few reasons behind this tradition. First, the Magi followed a star, which ultimately led them to Jesus. Therefore, we too use all the resources we have available to us — including creative prayer practices and intention words for the new year—to move closer to Jesus. Secondly, we trust that God uses multiple ways to guide us and speak to us. Star words are one such lens that might provide us with a way to look for God in our midst, both actively and in hindsight.
This became a new favorite practice of mine, and I was excitedly anticipating receiving a new Star Word in 2024. So… on Epiphany Sunday last year, I reached my hand into a basket full of stars, grabbed an upside-down yellow cut-out, and turned it over in my hand to reveal the word “Harmony.”
To be honest with you, I did not like this word for myself. I was tempted to pretend like I forgot to draw one, sneakily slip it back in the basket, and pick another word instead. But I decided against it. Instead, I returned to my seat and started googling definitions and synonyms of the word “harmony.”
And let me tell you…I don’t know that I could have selected a more nuanced word if I tried. Merriam-Webster has about six different definitions for “harmony.”
The first definition, which is the one I immediately thought of when I read the word, has to do with music. It is “the combination of simultaneous musical notes in a chord”.
I’m a fairly musical person myself. I grew up singing, playing piano, and attending dance classes because my mom had big dreams of raising the next *Broadway star*. My mom loves singing, too. She sang alto in the church choir, which means she usually sang the harmony lines of the hymns. She has a great ear for harmonies. When she sings along to songs on the radio, she almost always sings a harmony instead of the melody. Despite this musical environment, hearing the harmony does not come easily for me. My sister is pretty good at it, though. When we listened to music in the car together, I would usually sing melody and my mom and sister would sing harmony. I was always sort of jealous of how easily they could harmonize.
In the spirit of having a well-rounded understanding of the word, I looked for a few other definitions of “harmony.” One definition describes harmony as an “internal calm and tranquility.” Another definition explained harmony as “a pleasing agreement of parts; congruence; accord.”
“Yes,” I thought. “I could use some of that in the new year! That must be what God meant for me to take from this – not that other definition I didn’t like as much.”
Now that I understood my Star Word, how was I going to allow it to guide me through the year? How was I able to live in “harmony” in 2024?
Well, to cover the musical component…I led worship at the LSU Wesley Foundation a few times. I sang several duets during worship here at St. John’s, too!
To find internal calm and tranquility, I went to therapy and read self-help books. I visited National Parks and connected with God through nature. I discovered that I personally experience the most tranquility and harmony through God’s creation. I feel incredibly grateful and humble to have been created by the same God who created stars and sunsets and waterfalls and canyons.
To practice agreement and congruence, I challenged myself to listen more openly to others. 2024 being an election year, I had many opportunities to practice listening to views and opinions different from my own. But I wanted to listen to understand, not just listen to prepare for what to say next. I found myself asking clarifying questions more frequently. In doing so,
I found myself gaining more wisdom from those around me.
You would think with a word like harmony, 2024 would only be filled with so much peace and agreement and no turmoil whatsoever, right? But that was not the case… For me – and probably for some of you – 2024 had its fair share of chaos, loss, disappointment, betrayal, insecurity, sadness, grief, anxiety, and exhaustion. At times (many times), it felt more cacophonous than harmonious.
While writing this reflection, another definition of harmony caught my attention: “An interweaving of different accounts into a single narrative, as in the Gospels.” And I realized maybe the cacophony of 2024 was not the only account in the narrative. Surely, there were moments of peace, love, connection, trust, confidence, joy, and hope. For some people, 2024 was the year they celebrated the marriage of loved ones, the birth of a new baby, graduations, rekindled friendships, new travels, and many other positive experiences. So maybe my account of negativity is not the only important account in this narrative. Maybe finding harmony requires interweaving and cross-referencing a collection of varied accounts and experiences.
Maybe harmony is not about musical skill or internal tranquility or pleasant agreement. Maybe it’s more about balance – balancing cacophony with symphony, balancing calm with chaos, balancing disagreement with understanding.
Last Wednesday, the first day of 2025, my sister and I were driving back to her apartment late at night. We had just finished a wonderful day of sharing meals with friends and visiting the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival, but my heart was weighing heavy because of the violence in New Orleans the night before. My sister turned on one of her Spotify playlists called “World Tour.” She sang melody; I sang harmony. (If you remember…I always sang melody growing up, and she usually sang harmony.) My spirits lifted slightly. It felt like a very full-circle moment. It felt like a God wink, as some of you might say. And I caught myself smiling and thinking, “Yeah, God, I hear the harmony.”
Connor Dean