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 INSPIRATION. I want to be open to the inspiration in the world around me, in the people in my life & use that gift to fire my creativity this year as I work to achieve a major goal I’ve set for myself: to start an online craft business, after years of putting it off! In doing this, I want to be an inspiration to others as well & help them find their creative spark!
I have been reading and contemplating wabi-sabi. I submit wabi-sabi as the word/phrase of the year.
“Unbridled” is my word. Don’t even think about trying to stop me or
hold me back in any way.
Joy (and her close-cousin: Peace)
My word for 2014 is RESTORE. Rather than self improvement, my focus will be on restoring the parts of myself that I lost or covered up somehow. And, I’ve begun a restorative yoga practice, which is really where the word came to me. I think I’ll find many applications for this word in the coming year.
My word for 2014 is “unfolding”. I tend to think in visuals rather entirely in words, so connected with my word is an origami sculpture that is slowly unfolding over time – revealing new ideas, reality checks, and beautiful, unexpected relationships that are continually changing and evolving.
My word for the year is freedom. I plan to de-clutter, simplify and re-build while keeping in mind that these things allow me to embrace my freedom from all which currently holds me back and weighs me down.
My word for 2013 was Abundance. I can look back over the year and see its presence woven throughout -grateful for the gift of knowing that God is present and provides all that is needed.
The word I received for 2014 is Soar, and has been confirmed in so many delightful ways…truth be told the word scares me. What it means exactly will be revealed in God’s good time. In the meantime, working to stay open and keeping my eyes on Him.
My word is “Focus”. We have an expression where I work called the “non-trivial many” which refers to an abundance of little things that as individuals are inconsequential but taken from a broader view they add up and consume a staggering amount of resources. I find my life easily fills with “the non-trivial many” . I need to eliminate many of these worthwhile items to focus on the ones I’m truly intended to put my energies into.
The word that has come to me for 2014 is:
Trust.
The invitation is to continuously rest my heart in the Great Heart and receive peace during change and uncertainty.