SEVEN WORD REFLECTION
I want to invite you to engage in a fun but brief exercise that can not only divert your attention and alter your mood but, when shared with friends, may well lift other people’s spirits as well.
I encourage you to approach this like you would approach a puzzle or a game of solitaire. While it may result in some deep reflection, start out as a game of diverting fun. What you are asked to do is try to give expression to some topic using only seven words. Sometimes less is more and fewer words dig deeper.
EXACTLY SEVEN WORDS
The idea is simple. You are asked to respond to a topic in exactly seven words—no more and no less. To add to the fun, if you are willing, invite others to do this as well and put them together as a collection.
How will you and your colleagues respond to the topic of joy in seven words? What is the variety of expressions that might emerge among us on the topic of complaint? How might members of different denominations respond to a seven-word comment on the faith? Would clergy respond differently than lay people or agnostics when responding to the topic of despair? How might you define pandemic differently now than you would have last year?
MY SAMPLES
Let me give you some samples from different topics to demonstrate how it works.
Hope
Life has meaning.
Trust in future.
Humor
Interruption of seriousness
For a greater truth.
Jesus
Infinity incarnated,
God expressed,
Humans addressed
OK, now it’s your turn. Take one or two topics, write your seven-word definition, share it with some friends, and then create a collection. Don’t stress about quality. Just have fun.
Here are your words:
- Joy
- Complaint
- Faith
- Despair
- Pandemic
Was it fun? Did you get intrigued to try it with other words and maybe even get your congregation involved while they are sheltered in place?
Hope
Life has meaning.
Trust in future
