Last year I offered the invitation to my readers to consider a word shimmering for them that might carry them throughout the year. There were 140 beautiful postings and I later created a Wordle from the entries as a celebration of the prayers gathered. I offer the same invitation this year and again some prizes to give away:
In ancient times, wise men and women fled out into the desert to find a place where they could be fully present to God and to their own inner struggles at work within them. The desert became a place to enter into the refiner’s fire and be stripped down to one’s holy essence. The desert was a threshold place where you emerged different than when you entered.
Many people followed these ammas and abbas, seeking their wisdom and guidance for a meaningful life. One tradition was to ask for a word – this word or phrase would be something on which to ponder for many days, weeks, months, sometimes a whole lifetime. This practice is connected to lectio divina, where we approach the sacred texts with the same request – “give me a word” we ask – something to nourish me, challenge me, a word I can wrestle with and grow into.
Last year my word for the year was sovereignty and it ripened in me as the year unfolded leading me to new discoveries about myself. I resisted the word at first, as I didn’t like the sound of it. But I knew in all the internal energy it stirred up that I needed to pay attention. When I allowed my heart to soften, the word began to shimmer in me, rang long and clear like a chime (hint: sometimes the word which creates resistance in us is the one we most need to pay attention to).
This year my word is sanctuary. This past week I had to go to the emergency room while alone in a foreign country because of leg pain and shortness of breath. I was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism and a blood clot in my leg and admitted to the hospital for two nights of treatment and observation. I am being medically supervised now and will be fine, but the experience was dis-orienting in many ways (in the sense of calling me to a new orientation). I have much to process in the coming weeks, but for now I remember as I lay there in the midst of unknowing, that my thoughts were aligned to home, to my husband, to my friends, to my heart-expanding work, to a longing for the refuge of the familiar, but also a profound sense of sanctuary right in the midst of where I was. The sanctuary in a church is the place where the holy of holies dwells, but we also create sanctuaries for animals needing protection or for persons fleeing persecution. The layers to this word and how it seems to reach out to me prompts me to choose it as my word for the year to see what else it has to reveal to me.
- What is your word for the year ahead? A word which contains within it a seed of invitation to cross a new threshold?
- What word, phrase, or image is shimmering before you right now inviting you to dwell with it until it ripens fully inside of you?
Share your word in the comments below before Monday, January 3rd.
Leave your word for the year ahead in the comments below plus a couple of sentences describing your choice. Please note that I have my comments moderated (meaning I need to manually approve them) so it may not show up immediately, but should within 24 hours.
343 Responses
My word is “grounded”. I see my feet firmly planted on the earth. For several years now I have struggled with two homes, one north for the summer and one south for the winter. It’s hard to remember where I am at any given time until I practice the sacred NOW. So this year I will remember my “groundedness” regardless of where I am physically located. It is the same earth where ever I am.
The Word I have been led to choose for 2011 is EXQUISITE. After having a couple drawn to my attention it seemed the one to go with. I had been on retreat just prior to Christmas and it was shared during the retreat. I loved the sound of it and it kept resounding in my head for days. It is like a magent calling me to something. It shimmers like a jewel and reminds me of the “spark of’ . . . “glory’ . . Thomas Merton speaks of. I pary that during the year I may be ever open to receiving God’s gift of the EXQUISITE in the people I meet, the world around me, all that occurs in my life and most of all recognise the EXQUISITE of God within myself. I look forward to what will be revealed during 2011.
The word that chose me this year is “hospitality”. I love the idea of becoming a welcoming presence, of seeing and receiving all, people and circumstances, as the Christ. Leslie Hays also defines hospitality as an act of the recklessly generous heart. Becoming recklessly generous is inviting me to be more deeply grounded in God’s love for us as I learn to accept self and others. I feel wonder and excitement at the mere thought of this year’s journey into hospitality.
When I wen to post this my computer gave me trouble so I will post again.
My word is happy/happiness.
When it first came to me I rejected it as not being “profound” enough. So why does a word have to be “profound?”
My word is happy/happiness.
This word kept coming up and I would say no, it needed to be something “profound,” something more “holy.” But what is more profound than happiness?
Christine, I wish you much happiness in the New Year and Always.
embrace – accepting all that comes with wonder and awe
The word that has come to me is CLEAR.
Recently I received a photo of beautiful clear water dripping off red winter berries. The clear water added shine to the berries. Later that day I saw clear icicles suspended from tree limbs, downspouts and mailboxes.
There are more than sixty meanings for the word CLEAR, many of them have to do with freedom, being unobstructed, easily visible and bright. My first name, Elaine, also means bright in old English. So it makes me happy that my word for this year is clear.
Wishing you a wonderful New Year, Christine. Thank you for all the creative joy and beauty you put into the world.
“Truth” is the word I will try to seek continuously. The abcene of illusion.
My word is GRACE. It keeps showing up everywhere, and it feels as a beautiful intention for this season and for next year.
My word is “imperfect.” I waste so much time wanting/needing things to be “perfect,” and this year I hope to let them be what they are, and appreciate things in and of themselves.