Two years ago I began what has now become an annual tradition at Abbey of the Arts during this time of new year reflection. I offer the same invitation this year, again with some prizes to give away on January 6th, and this time with a free gift for everyone who participates.
*Everyone* who shares their word for the year and a brief description in the comments below also gets a *free guided meditation recording* from the Abbey with an *Embodied Examen Prayer for the New Year.* It is a great way to reflect on the past year and tend your dreams for the next. To claim your free gift, read through the instructions below and when your word for 2012 emerges, share it in the comments (scroll to the bottom of the page) and then email Eveline, the fabulous Abbey admin at admin@abbeyofthearts.com and request the link.
Then share this invitation with others! Help spread the love and opportunity for reflection!
Read on for more inspiration:
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 was sanctuary. Sanctuary has multiple meanings: 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 shimmered throughout my year, but especially the sense of finding sanctuary within my own heart, to feel at home in the world. This was the grace of this past year, its fierce lesson for me. This year my word is *savor* (click the link if you want to read more about its meaning for me). It came to me in a moment of silent prayer as I reflected on the call I am feeling these days to deeply savor each moment of my life, to immerse myself even more in the present moment. I am eager to discover what the word holds for me this coming year.
If you want help in letting a word choose you, scroll down for several suggestions.
- 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 Friday, January 6th
Leave your word for the year ahead in the comments below plus a couple of sentences describing your choice.
Letting a Word Choose You
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 share it with me and others in the comments section below. 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 Friday, January 6th you are entered into a random drawing for a chance to win one of several prizes!)
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458 Responses
My word is “Behold.” Initially the word which surfaced was “witness” but it wasn’t quite right. The call coming from deep within has something to do with being present to what is, as a witness, acknowledging that I am not the one in control. Then the word” behold” presented itself and began to unfold. For me, the word implies sense of deep reverence as well as surrender. It reminds me to simply “be”, while I” hold” – lightly- what is before me.
My word is “envelope”. It calls me to open my heart, my purse and my arms to those who need a hug, a dollar or to be loved.
My word is Worthy. You are worthy, I am worthy, the universe is worthy. I recently read a quote (sorry-can’t remember who) and to paraphrase: You can search the world and find no one more worthy of love than you. I love that! So often we don’t feel we are worthy of being worthy! This is an act of despair and negation. It does not make us humble, it gives us an excuse for not being loved or living to our highest potential. I want to remind everyone (esp. me) this year that we are indeed worthy!
My word is life as in: “I set before you blessings and curses, life and death; therefore, choose life“. I have set aside the years surrounding my husband’s long illness and death, and am moving on. God has spoken to my heart that I have a life to live, and I must live it!
My word is FORGE, with the meaning of making one’s way forward.
My word chose me earlier this year. My husband and I are fulfilling a 2 year work commitment in Tel Aviv, Israel. We love to go to the old city of Jaffa. Last summer at the Flea Market in Jaffa I purchased an old offset print piece of the word “dimension” in Hebrew. The word literally chose me as I was very intrigued with the way the hebrew letters looked. It is on a well-worn wood block with metal forming the simple letters.
I am an emerging paper collage artist spending this two year period as a somewhat monastic time to work in my studio, explore and expand my skills and creativity. I plan to use the Artist’s Rule book to go through the 12-week process on my own starting in January.
Dimension directs me to my own personal and spiritual growth and expansion in my art work. The fact that I found your offer to select a word for 2012 indicates to me that I am already in the process of the Artists Rule.
Needless to say, doing this process in Israel and having my word be in another language makes it all the more special and unique. One way to explain dimension is that it is a harmonious relationship of parts to each other and to the whole – balance, symmetry. I am seeking growth in every dimension of my life. Thank you for all you do.
My word is “Release”. I have deep wounds from childhood that have only come to light in the last few years. After spending time trying to understand they “why did these things happen”, I feel it is time to release them. God is healing me from within but I must allow this process to happen. In releasing I will be able to reach out to others who may have had the same experiences and show them that our Loving God will help us forgive and be restored.
My word is NOURISHMENT. I seek what truly nourishes my body, mind, and spirit. Not false “counterfeit treats” , but what deeply nourishes me. How might I find what I must have? through listening to my instincts, and playing at the edges of what I know, want, and need, and understanding that sometimes these are at odds with one another.
NOURISHMENT–I’ll find it through Presence, learning, patience, and having/receiving!
My word for the year is FLAME. Newly called to St. Patrick’s Episcopal, I am doing the creative work for a new worship service with fire imagery. It recalls St. Patrick lighting the new fire of Easter on the Hill of Tara in defiance of the pagan king and the nuns of St. Brigid keeping the sacred flame burning. Ten years ago, one of the modern day Sisters of Kildaire said to me, “You’re going to be keeping the fire of Bridget going, aren’t you now Sally?” It also reminds me of what we become when we totally surrender to God – all FLAME. I pray this year, that God will do God’s work in me, and I will be FLAME, lit from the Fire of God.
“Freedom” is the word that came to me ….a word with many possibilities. Freedom from unhealthy attachments, freedom to be playful and creative, freedom to give freely from the heart….Freedom.