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
“Midwife” is my word for the year. I commit myself to helping the Spirit be born in and through my life in the year to come.
My word is nurturing…..I love the way this word feels when you say or hear it. It’s like being well fed, cared for, loved and gently coaxed into growing up. It’s what we all want or wanted from our mother, or from our best friends.
my word for 2011 – Focus.
Transformation – I have been on journey of personal growth over the last few years and have come through some very dark times and now am feeling much stronger and more positive. This word reminds me of the journey that I have been on and that it continues.
“Confianza,” which is Spanish for confidence. In general, I feel confident in life, but there are some parts of me that need some attention and gentle encouragement in this area. I am grateful to my 23-year-old daughter for helping me find my way to this word.
Lafiya – a Nigerian word meaning “I am well. I am whole.”
The word I give you is INVITE.
elusive heroism
I want to look deeply into the quiet couage in myself and others who do
heroic acts without expecting notice.
My word is Leaps! I want to move forward this year in a bigger way, but with grace and joy. I see myself as this beautiful ballet star performing a Jete. For me there is also a bit of gutsiness involved in the leap. Heres to 2011!
Wonderment
I stand in wonder at the tiny forest within a patch of moss, to the sparkling of the stars above, the warm touch of my husband’s hand, the contentment of petting my dog pal Nickie. I am recouvering from cancer/surgery and every day seems to now be filtered through wonderment. Can the clouds be as white or the sky so blue that I now see them as?