Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims,
My newest book Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year has been published by Broadleaf Books! (You can download a free reflection guide or small group leader’s guide here.)
The dedication to my book reads:
“For all the ancient and contemporary wild-hearted ammas and abbas who let the desert work its power and who listen for the sacred word of Mystery emerge from within.”
That includes you, especially if you are drawn to the wisdom of the desert and how it can support us in living in challenging times. The ancient abbas and ammas fled to the desert to get away from the excesses of the Christian way they were seeing all around them. They sought a radical transformation to deeper Love.
A key phrase, repeated often in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, is “Give me a word.” When a novice approaches one of the ammas or abbas and says, “Give me a word,” “he or she is not asking for either a command or a solution, but for a communication that can be received as a stimulus to grow into fuller life. It is never a theoretical matter, and the elders are scathing about those who want simply something to discuss.”[i]
“A brother questioned Abba Hierax saying, “Give me a word. How can I be saved?” The old man said to him, “Sit in your cell, and if you are hungry, eat, if you are thirsty, drink; only do not speak evil of anyone, and you will be saved. (Hierax 1)”
We find this phrase repeated throughout the sayings of the desert fathers and mothers. This tradition of asking for a word was a way of seeking something on which to ponder for many days, weeks, months, sometimes a whole lifetime. A “word” was often a short phrase to nourish and challenge the receiver. A word was meant to be wrestled with and slowly grown into.
“A monk once came to Basil of Caesarea and said, “Speak a word, Father”; and Basil replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,” and the monk went away at once. Twenty years later he came back and said, “Father, I have struggled to keep your word; now speak another word to me”; and he said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”; and the monk returned in obedience to his cell to keep that also.[ii]“
This story demonstrates how a word could be worked on for years at a time. The word being sought was not a theological explanation or counselling. It was part of a relationship which had developed and the assumption that this word, when received by the disciple would be life-giving. It was meant for this person in this moment and season of their lives.
When you begin your own journey of listening for your word, release your thinking mind and enter into a space of receiving. Ask the wise presences in your life for your own life-giving word. This book invites you to listen in the stillness, to sacred texts, to your life, to dreams, to nature, to your body, to soul friends, to the ancestors. The word might come from reading a poem or story. It might come in a time of stillness or it might arrive later in the day, wise words offered from an unexpected source, a dream symbol, a line from a conversation, or an image you stumble upon that seizes your imagination.
You can order your copy of Give Me a Word and join us for our online Advent retreat where we will journey through the practices together.
I had a wonderful conversation with Mark Longhurst, Publications Manager at The Center for Action and Contemplation, about the themes of the book. Watch the interview here.
Join us tomorrow, September 22nd for a book launch. During this hour long free event I will share the themes and invitations of the book and lead us in a guided meditation experience. Simon will offer the gift of music. There will also be a chance to win a signed copy of the book or a place in the Advent retreat for those who are able to join us live.
With great and growing love,
Christine
Christine Valters Paintner, OblSB, PhD, REACE
P.S. The audiobook version of my fairy tale Journey to Joy is now available on Audible!
[i] Rowan Williams, Silence and Honey Cakes, 50 (Lion Books, 2004)
[ii] Benedicta Ward, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, from the introduction, xxii
