Visit the Abbey of the Arts online retreat platform to access your programs:

Login Here
Back to all

Give Me a Word 2014: Fifth Annual Abbey Giveaway

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:

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!

If this is your first time commenting at the Abbey, or you are including a link, your comment will need to be approved before appearing, which usually takes less than 24 hours.

You might also enjoy

Monk in the World Guest Post: Tarja Cajudo

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Tarja Cajudo’s reflection on the spirituality of being an elder sister, an Ate. I am an Ate (pronounced Ah-teh), the eldest sister.

Read More »
October 8, 2025

Monk in the World Guest Post: Polly Paton-Brown

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Wisdom Council member Polly Paton-Brown’s reflection“I wanna be where my feet are.” November 6th 2024 was a misty day in the part of

Read More »
October 1, 2025

680 Responses

  1. My word is receive. I was sitting for some time with the word believe and felt it was leading me to receive or receiving. The two words, for me , are very much connected. In my mind’s eye, I can see the Spirit lifting me up, my arms outstretched, taking in the new land that is blessed before me and me, myself, truly believing; believing that God is transmitting energy down my arms thru my body, all things new and necessary for sojourning the land before me. Blessings to all in 2014

  2. My word is “balance”. (Last year’s was “abide”.) Getting a full-time job this past year threw off my balance, some have been restored, some not, and some I struggle with, but it’s less about putting everything back on my plate, than finding out what gives me life, I guess your “essence”.

  3. My word for 2014 is PRESENCE. I have just finished a course in mindfulness, awareness, alertness and presence. In being all of the above, I found myself being freer, lighter, and conscious of all that is around me. But what is most evident to me is to be” present in my presence” to all that is around me. When I awake in the morning, there is more thought behind what I think and do. I STOP, BREATHE, and LISTEN to what is happening to and in me so that I can be more present to others. To be focused in the moment is most essential. It is a discipline not to be scattered in thought, word and deed. If I follow through in my discipline of mindfulness, my presence will have quality for all whom I meet and all that I do. I am grateful to God for this new awakening within myself. My breath now waits before speaking while my mind gathers precious words to relate to others. Amen.

  4. The word that continues to float up for me is “delight”. To claim this gift of finding delight in all things – to “delight in the Lord” – even when difficult situations present themselves, to find delight in the knowledge that Spirit is infused in all things. My 2013 word was “savor” – “delight” feels like in delves deeper into the essence of things. This holiday I observed that when we are surrounded by any kind of overabundance, the ability to delight fades accordingly. I would like to focus on essence and find delight in what is right in front of me.

  5. My word for 2014 is LIGHT. I have been living in the movement of the darkness of the soul for the past 3 years. . . .at a recent retreat at a Quaker gathering I was sharing a reflection on how my image of God has shifted and there is no form as there was in the past. . .that it is just an experience of light.

    I will continue to follow the shards of light and stay connected to God in this way throughout the new year.

  6. My word for this year … Simplicity. So many things have opened my eyes to the joy that comes from living simply; the freedom and lightness I feel from embracing with gratitude the fact that I have “enough.” Sharing, giving away excess, leaves more and more room for God to fill me up!

  7. My word is “reveal.” It discovered me in meditation. It took me a long while to get out of the way of my word. I wanted “joy” and I heard “bear” earlier, as in to bear hardships; but, reveal came forth warm and weighty and I finally understood what it means to feel a word “shimmer,” as Christine says. My hope is that my purpose and love will continue to be revealed to me and outwardly manifested this year, rather than hidden tucked away inside me, as I’ve been cultivating this moment of revelation for a long time and I am ready to live into it now.

  8. My word for 2014 is “ENLIGHTENMENT” to me this means finding the souls purpose for being on the earth at this time. I am travelling to India for a Retreat in mid January and feel a tremendous pull and know this is where I should be. I don’t have a “religion badge” but practice Buddhist ways of love and compassion.

    I wish you all much love and happiness for the coming year

  10. My word for the year is “beauty”. Leaving my old beliefs and old requirements for what beauty should look like on the trash heap, I walk forward with eyes that seek and find the beauty that is abundantly available…everywhere.