His resume would not give a clue to his rise to power. What we have witnessed in his public persona apparently was “derived from a lifetime as an actor on the stage, a specialist in improv comedy, and a producer in the movie business.” This we learn in a deep dive into Time Magazine’s 2022 Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelensky—President of Ukraine.
He's become a hero in his country with his bold defiance of Vladimir Putin. By himself, Zelensky would not have anywhere near the adequate resources to put up such a resistance. Fortunately, he has many friends in the West. Including Joe Biden.
Zelensky, like all of us, is a complicated person. His presidential “rehearsal” came through a television show, "Servant of the People." It aired for four seasons (2015 through 2019), and starred Volodymyr as Vasily Petrovych Goloborodko, a high school history teacher who winds up becoming president.
The Ukrainian President has done some comedic routines on stage that are somewhat questionable. He joined three other men in a stage troupe doing “sultry dance moves while in high heels, form-fitting bottoms and black, skimpy tops.” Not quite your presidential style.
All things considered, Zelensky is one of the most talked about personalities on the planet during 2022. No question, he’s been an inspiration to his nation. And a thorn in the side of Putin. For all that, Time Magazine bestows the honor of Person of the Year.
Next we come to another year-end tradition of recognition: the Word of the Year. This one is not so easy. Competing dictionaries have offered up different words—or a phrase.
If you’re a Merriam-Webster fan, their editors selected “gaslight” as their word of the year. Meanwhile, the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary gave their nod to a Phrase of the Year—goblin mode. What-in-the-Charles-Dickens is that??
According to the website for Oxford University Press, “goblin mode” is a “a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.” Ben Zimmer, in making the announcement for the Oxford Word of the Year claimed, “Goblin Mode really does speak to the times and the zeitgeist, and it is certainly a 2022 expression.” He believes people are looking at “social norms in new ways.” Goblin mode gives people “permission” to do this. I call it one more nasty distortion of life!! But there you go.
We could easily combine the Person of the Year AND the Word of the Year. In fact, we should simplify it by declaring this individual the Person and Word of All Time. Who possibly could fill the bill?
It should be obvious. There is only One candidate. As the gospel writer John records, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5, ESV)
The profundity of this is almost beyond human comprehension.
As John continues to write, he unveils more truth, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:12-14, ESV)
Christmas is the occasion where the "Person and Word of All Time" is celebrated as entering our world. The offer “to all who receive him” is the invitation addressed to you. There is no one more worthy of your heart’s devotion than Jesus the Christ.
Have a Merry Christmas!
That’s Forward Thinking.
You can find a number of YouTube episodes and podcasts of Mark’s program, Moving People Forward at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCosyuBzdSh1mXIas_kGY2Aw?
For more information on the Elfstrand Group, please visit www.elfstrandgroup.com
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