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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.

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680 Responses

  1. Sustenance- this word immediately came to mind…in this past year I have been searching for a branch of light to fill my soul…it happens only for moments…it has been a year of many losses…I joined the Oblate Formation Program at St. Paul’s Monastery, St. Paul, MN…I am on this path…and I “act as if” there is a Presence…so I on this journey and need the strength and wisdom to come to my peace.

  2. My word is COURAGE. To do what may appear foolish so the miraculous can happen in the face of overwhelming odds, as did Nelson Mandela.

  3. My word is COURAGE. Nelson Mandela did what to many seemed ridiculous in the face of overwhelming odds and the miracle happened.. His Spirit inspires me to act and to begin something that in the eyes of some, may seem foolish, but now, it seems to me, not to act is foolish. However, I will need COURAGE all the way.

  4. I turned 75 in November and I was reading Joan Chittister’s book “The Gift of Years”. She says that this is an excellent time to be outrageous.” Her goal(and mine) is to say or do one outrageous thing every week. A blessing of these years is to give another whole meaning to what it is to be alive, to be ourselves, to be full of life. Our own life.”

    So for me at this age, I am going to live full out and not worry about what others think. I have spent too much time doing that and now is the time to be my true self. The self that I was created to be. So my word for 2014 is OUTRAGEOUS.

  5. My word is STILLPOINT. This is the point to where I have to return when I am trying to center. “At the still point, there the dance is.” “Except for the point, the still point, There would be no dance. And there is only the dance.”

  6. Thirsting: how we each thirst for something that can fill ourselves and each other — be it faith, joy, hope, optimism or the chance to be heard in our world. This can be both physical and spiritual thirsting,

  7. My word is STILL, for I need to “be still and know that He is God.” My prayer has lacked stillness, a simple state of being open to listen to His voice and to receive His infinite love.

  8. OPEN – be open to what is coming, have PATIENCE to allow what there is, ACCEPT what is in front of you without judging, OPEN to the world, new acquaintances, new meetings of the souls, OPEN, to let the light in, OPEN to breathe the world and LOVE.

  9. It came to me almost instantly: compassion. Compassion for myself as well as those around me. I’m not sure what that will look like, but it’s nice to have a starting point.

  10. My word is INSPIRATION. I am continually seeking sources of inspiration for creativity in daily life from everywhere I can think of or are fortunate to experience. This past year I have opened up more to mythology and storytelling, especially after a health crisis.