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 is . . . still
It is a word that reminds me to go deep and be still so that Spirit may speak. The image it conjures is of a stone dropping into the water and slowly sifting down, leaving gentle ripples in its wake.
The word that has taken up residence with me is illumine. My word for 2013 was release. Among the releases of this year almost past has been my move from one place of ministry to another. Now on the prairie of northern Illinois, after years in core urban settings, I awake, wander, and wonder on a land bathed in every imaginable quality of light. And I have come to serve a small progressive rural congregation with this tag line, “a light in the country.” In the generous and ever changing light of this place, I will listen this year with ILLUMINE.
Wow, I love the photograph, and the story of where you are in this.
This photo is stunning, Martha. It evokes the majesty of the Trinity in my soul. Thank you for sharing, Sharon
My word is “faithfullness”
It is important for me to call myself back to faithfullness while remembering that my God has always been faithful to me . . .
My word just came to me yesterday: PURGE!
I feel burdened by having too much “stuff” to look after, much of it totally unnecessary, so want to be intentional about lightening my load throughout 2014.
My word is mindful.
“Hospitality” – to welcome both friends and strangers with acceptance and comfort. And to do the same for those parts of myself being invited back home.
Abide. A small word full of meaning and nuance. It calls me to wait without restlessness, but continue with hope. It calls me to find how I can be of use and service in the place where I find myself. It calls me to be true to my own spirit, as well as recognize that I am not alone. “Abide in me and I in you.”
“Rudderless”. St James by legend arrived in Spain on a rudderless ship, thus began a centuries long tradition of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Always loved this image. This year the word chose me. I will get to where I need to be if I trust enough to let go.
“Hear” came to me the day I signed up for the mini-retreat. Those 12 days took me 3 weeks to get through, what with the busy Christmas season. I can’t remember the Scripture passage we used in the group, which contained this word. I’ve spent those 3 weeks trying to think of something better, but nothing came, and as it sat in the back burner of my mind, so many meanings of “hear” came to me. Indeed, it has for many years, but in my busy-ness, I’ve forgotten, and perhaps I need to spend 2014 reflecting on it.
The confirmation that this should be the word came when I easily wrote a poem about it, which I’ll share at the Poetry Party in January.
In the meantime, I’ll share a sculpture I made in Feb. 2002.
My word for the coming year is Gratitude. Focusing on my word for 2013, which was Connection, has helped me to see all that I have been blessed with. My hope for the new year is that I live each day in gratitude for these blessings and those to come…especially those blessings dressed up like challenges!