Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

  • Welcome
    • Prayer Cycle
      • Introduction to the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle
      • Day 1 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Cathedral
      • Day 2 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Scriptures
      • Day 3 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Saints
      • Day 4 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Spiritual Directors
      • Day 5 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Icon
      • Day 6 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Sacrament
      • Day 7 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Liturgy
      • Prayer Cycle Leader Resources
    • About the Abbey
    • About Christine Valters Paintner
    • About John Valters Paintner
    • About the Wisdom Council
    • Monk Manifesto
    • Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks
    • Subscribe to Our Love Notes
    • Website privacy notice
  • Books
    • Sacred Time:
      Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
    • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: Poems
    • Earth, Our Original Monastery:
      Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
    • Dreaming of Stones: Poems
    • The Soul's Slow Ripening:
      12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
    • The Wisdom of the Body:
      A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
    • Illuminating the Way:
      Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
    • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
      Eight Practices for the Journey Within
    • Eyes of the Heart:
      Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
    • The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom
    • Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated & Explained
    • Lectio Divina–The Sacred Art: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer
    • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements
    • Awakening the Creative Spirit:
      Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction
    • Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening & Awareness
  • Poetry | Art | Music
    • Music + DVD
    • Poetry by Christine Valters Paintner
    • Poetry Videos
    • Dancing Monk Icons
    • Other Art Collaborations
      • Monk in the World art series by Kristin Noelle
      • Saints & Animals art series by David Hollington
      • Sacred Time art series by Alexi Francis
      • Mary block print art series by Kreg Yingst
  • Programs
    • Walk the Ancient Paths: Pilgrimage
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World (Ireland)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
    • Live Programs and Spiritual Retreats
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color
      • The Way of the Hermit:
        A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times
        with Kayleen Asbo, PhD
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers (Lent 2021)
      • Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life (Spring 2021)
    • Self-Study Online Spiritual Retreats
      • Creative Flourishing in the Heart of the Desert:
        An Online Retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen
      • Dreaming of the Sea:
        A women’s discernment journey through the story of the Selkie
      • Earth, Our Original Monastery
        A Companion Retreat to the Book (SELF-STUDY)
      • Exile and Coming Home:
        An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures
      • Eyes of the Heart:
        Photography as Contemplative Practice
        (Companion retreat to the book)
      • Honoring Saints and Ancestors:
        Online Retreat for the Season of Remembrance
      • Lectio Divina:
        The Sacred Art of Reading the World
      • A Midwinter God:
        Making a Conscious Underworld Journey
      • Sacred Rhythms of Sky, Sun, Sea & Stone:
        A Creative Retreat with the Elements (SELF-STUDY)
      • Sacred Seasons:
        A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
      • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
        Eight Practices for the Journey Within
        (a companion retreat to the book)
      • The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (a companion retreat to the book)
      • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire
      • Watershed Moments
        in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
      • Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist:
        A 12-Week Companion Retreat to The Artist's Rule
      • The Wisdom of the Body:
        A 10-Week Online Companion Retreat to the Book
      • The Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine
  • Calendar
  • Reflections
  • Contact

Contemplative Living

Letting a Word Choose You

I invited you the other day to offer a word which is calling to you for this coming year.  The responses have been so beautiful and inspiring (I encourage you to stop by and read them!)

For some of you the word may have come right away, but for some you may desire a word to ripen within your soul these coming weeks and months, but one doesn't seem to be coming.  So here are some suggestions for allowing a word to choose you:

  • Release your thinking mind in this process, this isn't about figuring out just the right word to improve yourself this coming year.  The word comes as gift, often your sense of it being "right" is more intuitive, a more embodied sense of yes.  The word (or phrase) is one that will work in you (rather than you working on it).   Remember that a word that creates a sense of inner resistance is as important to pay attention to as one that has a great deal of resonance. 
  • Lectio divina is one of the primary practices we have in Christian monastic tradition for listening for a word or phrase that shimmers or calls to our hearts.  Lectio is traditionally applied to scripture, but can also be engaged to pray with life experience.  Allow some time for prayer and in your imagination review this last year, honoring it as a sacred text.  As you walk through your experiences notice which ones stand out, call to you for more attention, or shimmer forth.  There may be more than one, but for this time of prayer select one of them (and you can return to others in future times of prayer).  Enter into it with all of your senses.  Remember it in all of its detail.  Experience it from this place you are in now.  Notice if there is a word or phrase which rises up.  Then allow that word to unfold in your imagination and welcome in images, feelings, and memories which stir in you.  After a time of making space for these, begin to ask what is the invitation or call rising up from these noticings?  Where is God calling you to a new awareness or action in your life?  Close with some time of silence.
  • Approach a soul friend, a spiritual director, or a wise elder for your word, as in the desert tradition.  They might need some time to ponder this with you.  It is always wise to consult with a soul companion or community when testing the fruits of prayer.
  • Create a time of retreat for this holy time of year.  A couple of hours is enough.  Make space to sink into silence, journal, reflect on your experiences of the year past.  Write about your dreams and deep desires for the year ahead.  In the space of contemplation and stillness, notice if there is a word, image, or phrase which rises up.
  • Go for a contemplative walk where you aren't trying to get anywhere.  Your sole purpose is to be as present as possible to each footfall.  Listen for how your inner life is calling you forward with each step.  Be present to the gifts of creation around you (even if it is the city pigeons and trees planted down the sidewalk).  Listen if they might have a word to offer to you.
  • Listen to your dreams in these coming days.  As you go to sleep, lay a piece of paper and pen by your bed as a sign of your willingness to receive the wisdom that comes in dreams. Consider strong dream images as possible words calling to you. Pay attention to synchronicities through the day.  Are there images or words which seem to repeat themselves?  If so, take note.
  • Allow time for the word to ripen.  This may be a slow process.  If you hear a word calling, sit with it for a couple of days.  Listen attentively to the stirrings of your heart in response.  Eventually there will be a tugging inside of you, where you feel yourself drawn again and again to this word.  Allow yourself to be in a space of unknowing with this and practice being present to your anticipation knowing that things of the soul unfold in their own time.  This is a journey of transformation and the word may not make immediate sense to you, but trust that over time more of its meaning will be revealed.

When the word emerges, please stop by this post and share it with me and others.  I am truly blessed by the sharings offered there – it is such a gift of hope in this time of holy darkness (and if you share by Monday, January 3rd you are entered into a random drawing for a chance to win a spot in one of my online classes!)

For a Visual Meditation on the gifts of Winter stop by here.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Print
«
»

5 Comments December 22, 2010

Upcoming Programs

The Way of the Hermit:
A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times

January 22-24, 2021
with Kayleen Asbo, PhD

The Spiral Way:
Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination

Hosted by the Rowe Center
February 1-21, 2021
with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD

Recent Reflections

  • Humility + Join us today for live prayer! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales 2: Tús maith leath na hoibre – by John Valters Paintner
  • New Book Club for 2021: Lift Every Voice ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales One: Dia dhuit, is mise Hildy! by John Valters Paintner, Your Online Prior
  • Celebrate the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle podcast with us!

Connect with the Abbey

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
JOIN THE HOLY DISORDER OF DANCING MONKS
SIGN UP FOR UPDATES
DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR MINISTRY

Copyright © 2021 BY ABBEY OF THE ARTS · WEBSITE PRIVACY NOTICE

Copyright © 2021 · Flourish Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in