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
From Jack Gilbert’s ‘A Brief for the Defense’: We must risk DELIGHT….we must have the stubbornnesss to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.
I’m inclined, after flirting with some related words, to accept the invitation of the word – and the sentiment – that would not go away; my word for 2012 is DELIGHT.
My word is “eruption”. My prayer during 2012 is that there be an Eruption of Peace for the peoples of the world, through laying down of arms and ceasing of war; that there be an Eruption of insight in humanity, that we may know the wisdom of compassion for the most impoverished of the earth; that there be an Eruption of wonder for Earth our home so that we grow in understanding of her fragility and that we learn to protect her; that there be an Eruption of quiet, reflectivness, inner musing; deeper awe of the Presence of God; mindfulness that we the people are connected to all of life in spirit and in reality.
My word is “witness”. As someone who is visually impaired, this word has troubled me for years, as if I wasn’t qualified to fulfil Christ’s great commission. Yet, at last, I am beginning to perceive that witnessing happens in the heart, not the physical senses. Next year I am starting a prayer guide’s course with a view to training as a spiritual director, and the word “witness” reminds me that one of the chief roles of a soul companion is to witness another’s faith journey. Just as a tree falling in a forest isn’t significant unless it is witnessed, so events in peoples’ lives have to be acknowledged for them to feel meaningful enough to learn from.
My one word is EMBRACE. I just moved back to Illinois after spending 11 years in Arizona. I defienitely crossed a threshold and evolved into a more prayerful, contemplative person during my desert expereince but, the transition back to the midwest has been a bit bumpy. (Discovering “Abbey of the Arts” has been a real godsend for me!) 2012 will be about embracing who I am with joy and love, embracing emerging communites, and returning the embrace of our Lord who always has me in His arms. God Bless everyone this new year! :o)
My word is ripen…….to be completed in maturity….
I will be sixty-six years of age soon, the same age my Mother was
when she died, very suddenly, twenty five years ago. This year is
also a time when my husband and I will be moving to the coast,
of western Canada, a place in my heart. I pray that my journey
is only just beginning, that I will ripen into a very wise elder and
artist.
Release. My word for 2012 reminds me to breathe. To let go of tension, impatience, and the need to be right. To stop justifying bad decisions and character flaws. To grieve and release injuries (actual and perceived). To quit hoarding meaningless stuff and excess weight. To shorten my to-do list and relax my daily agenda. To greet my day with expectation, curiosity, and a fresh batch of grace.
Diane, your word Release and my Relinquish are very similar, and our goals are both alike and different. If would you like to partner through email, perhaps monthly, we could compare notes and encourage each other. Our lives are undoubtedly different, as our perspectives will be, but it might be interesting and helpful. My word comment appears further down the line, if you want to look for it. Sine my email isn’t public, you could check my website to reply. Whatever your decision–have a very Merry Christmas (and I hope you win one of the prizes).
Barbara
Patience–with this word I will try to be patient with myself as new opportunities come and go; I will strive to be patient with others as events “try my soul”. And I thank God for patience shown to me even when I don’t deserve it.
STILL ~ chose this word for Advent, and am choosing it for 2012 Word. Synonyms: still, quiet, silent, noiseless, soundless. Still implies lack of motion or disturbance and often connotes rest or tranquillity. Quiet suggests the absence of bustle, tumult, or agitation. Silent can suggest a profound hush. Noiseless and soundless imply the absence of disturbing sound. “Be still, and know that I am God”. This has already become an interesting and changing word. God’s richest blessings to all.
My word for 2010 was awareness and for 2011 was humility. Intentional seems to be settling in to best describe my meditating on a word finding me for 2012. Discipline seemed not quite right, although it is a part of intentionality – yet a desire for more order or self-discipline in my life is at the root of intention. I want to go about this calmly, tenderly, justly and with great clarity. So I think a beginning prayer each day will be to examine my goals for each day – small steps that lead to great progress in becoming who God wants me to be. I have to work against my habit of procrastination so that is why gentleness with self will be required.
I live in conflict with my job because it is bound by the ever-tightening constraints of the institutional church, constraints which no longer make sense to my heart and mind and soul. The word “calm” came to me immediately as a message to let the answers reveal themselves, rather than forcing them, as I discern whether to stay or go.
having travelled a similar journey, I’m in awe of anyone who can put the word ‘calm’ in the midst of such a journey…. may it be so