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Give Me a Word: Third annual Abbey giveaway

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!)

If you want to be notified of more Abbey gifts and offerings, consider subscribing to our email newsletter (which includes another free gift just for signing up!)

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458 Responses

  1. Manifest. I am working on the manifestation of my call to let loose the creative being inside of me.

  2. “Welcoming”
    At first I thought my word was “hospitality”. Then, after sitting with it for a few days, it changed to “acceptance”. During prayer this morning, I wrote the word “acceptance” in the middle of a blank piece of paper. Out from it, in crossword puzzle style, came the Serenity Prayer which is “The Welcoming Prayer”.
    There is much to welcome daily as I practice living in the present moment…I pray I am more “welcoming”. My word for 2012 is “welcoming”.

  3. It almost seems too simple – that’s the spiritual paradox I guess. I have been given the word ‘Love’? A word that suffers much from having only it’s one ‘word’ in English yet many more in other languages. Today is the feast day of John the Evangelist, known for being the Beloved disciple and whose Gospel is the Jesus of Love. Wh spoke so much about the relationship between loving God and each other that his own followers complained and asked ‘Why?’ – he replied, “Because it is the first law of the Lord, and if you follow it, you do enough “. I believe that, once the surface is broken this word will come to inspire more and more so I look forward to a year with the many aspects, nuances and expressions of Love

  4. Last year the words fear not jumped out at me so strongly so I chose the word unafraid. I found out why this word when my husband became ill with pancreatic cancer and died Dec. 4th. Again this word is sounding in my heart and mind as I face this new year without him after 55 yrs..

  5. My word for 2012 is “TrailBlazer”. It was given to me by a Soul friend and felt foreign at first….but as I try this word on each day like a piece of new clothing, it becomes more comfortable. As I am looking to find my way back to my artist self, I found this definition to be timely…”trailblazer – someone who helps to open up a new line of research or technology or art”. I am looking forward to fully exploring this word in 2012!

  6. My 2012 work is “acceptance”. This past year has been about letting go of past ways of doing things and being resistant to the way I was evolving, changing and unfolding. As I let go to make space for something new, I found I was rejecting a lot of possibilities that were presented to me. I have been frustrated with what seems to be a holding pattern in my life. Acceptance came to me loud and clear. Enough with the resistance and wishing I had more control over my life. Now is the time to accept all of who I am becoming; to accept the gentle nudges to move in a direction I have never gone before. With acceptance, I am free to move past fixed boundaries, test my creative wings and maybe, just maybe, I can finally live with confidence with my whole heart and soul.

  7. My word for 2012 is healing.
    It came to me as beginning a new sense of wholeness and one with the spirit.

  8. The word is question. Have I listened with an open heart and mind to the Divine calling within me? Have I interacted with my fellow humans with compassion and tolerance? Have I given freely of my love and encouragement to those who need it? Have I given thanks for all that I have be it great or small? At the close of each day how will I respond to the QUESTION ” What have I done today?”.

  9. This was an amazing practice as I tried to find my word, I tried many on for size and nothing seemed quite right. I paged through my inspirational books and then released the issue this morning I realised that was exactly what my word is”Release”. to release old patterns, the past, grudges and issues. To release expectations and allow life to flow. to release my life to god and allow divine plan to manifest. Release needs for perfection,material goods and illusions. To release my work out into the world (I am an artist) and allow it to do the work it was meant to do. Release.

  10. I have recently been fiercely resisting the word ‘discipline’, hence there is no doubt it is my word for 2012! Having been at home for a few years I have got used to doing things at my own pace – otherwise known as procrastination. Neglecting regular practice of my spiritual disciplines, as well as committed creative time – not to speak of physical exercise, is causing me to feel restless and unfocused. I will focus in the coming year on seeking God in the regular practice of these disciplines again.