Share your Word for 2014
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 below by Monday, January 6, 2014 and you are automatically entered for the prize drawing (prizes listed below). Last year we had 840 people share!
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 6th!
I am delighted to offer some wonderful gifts from the Abbey:
- 4 people will win a signed copy of Eyes of the Heart: Photography as Christian Contemplative Practice (mailed directly from me in Ireland to you, anywhere in the world)
- 4 people will win a copy of Naked and You Clothed Me: Homilies and Reflections for Cycle A with two reflections by Christine, plus also Richard Rohr, Rob Bell, Jan Richardson, Fr. James Martin, SJ, and many more!
- 4 people will win their choice of self-study online classes from following: Creative Flourishing in the Heart of the Desert: A Self-Study Online Retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen, Soul of a Pilgrim: An Online Art Retreat, Seasons of the Soul, Lectio Divina: The Sacred Art of Reading the World, or Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Contemplative Practice.
So please share your word (and it would be wonderful to include 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 6th I will announce the prize winners!
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680 Responses
My word for 2014 is RISE. I’m not completely sure what it means, but the word has landed so I look forward to seeing what it holds.
I thought for a while that the word was ‘patience’ but I have landed instead on ‘spaciousness’. Focusing on spaciousness – creating it, maintaining it – feels like a more concrete path to patience.
I am calling 2014 my ‘GENESIS’ year. The word came from my meditations in Psalm 51 the past few weeks: “God make a fresh start in me. shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.” (Message translation) Such promise!
My word for this year is Re-enchantment. To find the magic and beauty of life again. This has been a difficult year. Both parents had health challenges. My mother died in June. I changed jobs in August. I have been having financial stress. Just finding myself again has been up and down. So Re-enchantment it is.
The word that has chosen me for this year is the Hebrew word CHAYA, “to restore, quicken, give life, recover…” This is one that has been pursuing me for some time, and I look forward to what this holds for me this year.
My word for 2014 is self-love.
My word is Hope.
Because of some things that happened a long, long time ago, Hope has never been an easy word for me or, to be quite honest, one I had much use for, especially in my teens. I sense her companionship in the coming year might just be an invitation to heal in some deeply meaningful ways and I am willing and feel ready.
My word is ‘abiding’. This word is richer than staying and seems to express that deep longing to be totally infused and inhabited by God in every aspect of my life and of all lives lived in relationship with Him.
My word for 2014 is *listen*. I will listen for God’s voice in nature, circumstance and people. My soul longs for a more contemplative life and I yearn to be more present to others when I am with them. I will speak less and listen more in 2014.
My word for 2014 is ‘Oneness’
A longing for all to be one in all -joined in one -being one – seeing all as one.
Much love
Ken