This past Sunday, we marked the end of 2025 by stepping into each other’s stories. It felt risky to have an open mic with no backup plan, but the fruit of that risk was hearing your stories of how Love drew near this year.

If you weren’t there on Sunday, pause for a moment, put your hand on your chest, and ask, “How did Love come TO me this year? How did Love come THROUGH me?” As we move forward into 2026, may we keep asking ourselves, “What does Love look like now?” May we find the courage to keep walking in the direction of Love.

I have been praying about the year ahead, asking God for a repeat performance. Is there a phrase, or a theme, that would ground, guide, and prepare us for this year? I’ll share my sense with you, and we’ll see, in time, what wisdom it might hold for us. The word is Discernment, the phrase is “Stop, Look, and Listen,” and the invitation is to slow things down and really pay attention, really listen, to what is happening within us and around us, and to discern the movement of God.

I sense this will be a formative year for us as individuals, as a community, and possibly for our world. The one constant is change, and things right now are changing. How is God moving in all that will unfold for us? We can be drawn by many things: fear, scarcity, courage, love, generosity, hatred. What are we being drawn by? What are we being drawn towards? What is Love drawing us into?

The wise men found their way to Jesus’ bedside. They did this by stopping every night, for years on end, to examine the stars. Their wisdom came from this long, slow obedience. When they saw something shift, something change in the sky, they recognized it. They looked at the star. And then, they listened. They listened to that deep knowing inside of them that said, “Follow the star. A new king has been born. Go to him.” They listened to one another, solidifying this strange directive within them. Many people gazed up at the night sky, but these wise ones stopped, looked, and listened long enough to set out on that journey.

This year hands us a similar invitation to stop, and look, and listen. I wonder what we will see? I wonder what we will hear? I wonder what will draw us forwards this year? 

Deep peace and blessing,

Anne

Rev. Anne Baxter Smith

Pastor, Southpoint Church