Share your Word for 2013
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. The word which chooses us has the potential to transform us.
- What is your word for the year ahead? A word which contains within it a seed of invitation to cross a new threshold in your life?
Share your word in the comments section by Tuesday, January 8th and you are automatically entered for the prize drawing (prizes listed below).
A free 12-day online mini-retreat to help your word choose you. . .
This year I am offering all Abbey newsletter subscribers a gift: a free 12-day online mini-retreat with a suggested practice for each day to help your word choose you and to deepen into your word once it has found you.
Sign up here and you can start your mini-retreat today. Once you subscribe you will receive a confirmation email with access to the mini-retreat content (and you are free to unsubscribe at any time). If you are already a subscriber, the invitation will be in this week’s email newsletter.
Win a Prize – Random Drawing Giveaway on January 7th!
Some wonderful friends of the Abbey have offered fabulous prizes to be included in this drawing held from all of the names who participate:
- from Christine Valters Paintner of Abbey of the Arts: a space in the online Lenten retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen
- from Kayce Stevens Hughlett of Diamonds in the Soul: a signed copy of her book As I Lay Pondering: Daily Invitations to Live a Transformed Life
- from Dana Reynolds at Sacred Life Arts: a space in her online class The Book of Wonderment and a signed copy of her brand new novel Ink and Honey
- from Ronna Detrick: a space in her online class Soulstice: Develop a Meaningful Spiritual Practice
- from Roy DeLeon of Now Praying: a signed copy of his book Praying with the Body and personalized body prayer for your favorite Psalm
- from Tess Giles of Pilgrim’s Moon: a print of the beautiful banner art by Rima Staines
- from Velma Frye: a copy of her CD “Seven Sacred Pauses” and “Take Heart”
- from Richard Bruxvoort Colligan: a copy of each of his Psalm CDs “Sharing the Road” and “Shout for Joy”
- from Trish Bruxvoort Colligan of River’s Voice: a copy of her CDs “Breath” and “Unfolding”
- from Mary Sharratt: a copy of her novel Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard of Bingen
- from Waverly Fitzgerald of Living in Season: a copy of her French Republican Calendar for 2013 and a copy of her New Year Dreams E-book
- from Betsy McCall of the Art Monastery: an original art print
- from Paula Huston: a copy of her latest book Season of Mystery: 10 Spiritual Practies for Embracing a Happier Second Half of Life
Pretty wonderful, isn’t it? Make sure to check out the links to their websites for all kinds of goodness and thank them for supporting the Abbey!
So please share your word (and a sentence about what it means for you) with us below. Subscribe to the Abbey newsletter for your free gift. Share the love with others and invite them to participate. Then stay tuned – on January 7th I will announce the prize winners!
844 Responses
My word for 2013 is ‘Beloved’. It is my heart’s desire to ‘be loved’ and part of my journey this year is to experience already being ‘Beloved’ and to let this love work in me.
My word for 2013 is ‘Beloved’. It is my heart’s desire to ‘be loved’ and part of my journey this year is to expereince already being ‘Beloved’ and to let this love work in me.
The word I received rather surprisingly for 2013 is Sanctuary. As I am taking a giant leap into the unknown this year, I was expecting a word full of energy, enlightenment, newness….definitely a verb! Instead, this came to me…a noun even though it holds lots of verbs! So, as I am growing into it, all the beautiful images of sanctuary are already having a soothing effect… safety, holiness, refuge, companionship, possibility, recovery, nurture, rest….and more to come!
‘I have bread to eat that you know nothing about.’
‘My food is to do the will of the one who sent me. And to
finish His work.’
( Is it possbile to send a photograph for this independently, without becoming
part of Flickr?}
Thanks,
Santosh
Gerald Manley’s poetry speaks to my heart this evening.
I was drawn to “freshness-down-deep”.
Yet, I read “Pied Beauty”. Manley honors “all things counter, original, spare, strange..”.
His words define me. I want to honor myself and all pied beauty this year.
I looked up the definition of pied. It can refer to contrasting colors, to magpies and their patches of black and white contrasting plumage.
To me it speaks of honoring our many variegated sides, our contrasting sides, the odd combinations that make us unique beyond mere superficial beauty…a hodgepodge of pied combination, thanks to the miracle of creation, each uniquely beautiful combinations cobbled together.
I want to cherish myself, cherish the world around me, and cherish the Lord this year . My word is “PIED”.
My word is ‘nurture’, which has come to me from several directions, and means for me a deep caring and taking care of the physical, mental and spiritual – starting with self, and radiating outward. The world needs nurturing.
My word “dawning” flouds my heart with hope.
My word for this year will be ‘Trust.’ It is time for me to trust God with my life again. I DO trust Him with my life, and He has watched over me and provided for me in miraculous ways, both big and small. (None are truly small, though.) But I am feeling led to trust Him more deeply than I ever have before. This path, I believe, will necessarily lead into a valley that may, at times, be quite dark. Many sorrows beckon, long neglected, waiting for acceptance, expression, and release. “And so, with sparrow wings and eagle heart, and feeling much delayed, I go.” (….part of something I wrote on Facebook last year.)
After quite a bit of contemplation, and a slew of words, I’ve finally come to “Kaizen” the idea of gradually improving things through incremental change. My runner up is flourish, which I hope to do as a result of implementing. Kaizen. Tank you for this marvelous opportunity to come to a word that suits me for the year! I loved last year’s word, and used it daily!
CREATE has claimed me, challenging and inspiring the days and nights of 2013. I am in awe and humbled.