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 this year is REVELATION
“do you not perceive it?” – a phrase more than a word, but with the sense of embracing what is already there, noticing what I have and where I am, being aware and present to the moment, the beauty of my surroundings, the hand of God in my life now, as well as to the new thing He is already doing. It is about perceiving instead of striving! It makes me stop and take notice!
Heart…mine has been pounding, fluttering and being irregular of late. Being treated for this but also sense that my heart is wanting more of me. To live more from my heart, to be heart full and heart centered and heart focused. To live life heartily. I see a heart with an ear, to listen from my heart. The possibilities are delicious.
Invitation
is the word,
but I don’t like it
and don’t want to use it
I want to ‘be’ the invitation
…as words are not the ‘thing’
…as words are often liars
beggars, cheats, that
merely try to seem real
(for what appears to be good reason)
It’s scary
The word Clarity invited me to dance… resistence, toe stepping, a bit of awkwardness. Not quite right. The word Surrender… yes, closer.. and after a year of RECEIVING seemed to flow on the ebb of sweet tides. Then, a New Year’s revelation to SOFTEN. Soften into the wild embrace of the Divine. Yes! So it is.
I’m not quite through with the process yet, but I suspect that the word that has chosen me is “write.” It has meaning on many levels, and it both excites and scares me. Allowing it to choose me will mean self-discipline, hard work, and making myself vulnerable. But I believe that it will also bring blessing. So, here goes… *deep breath*
Detachment. Grateful for the grace of detachment from money and possessions and even well-loved people, I was surprised during this “Challenge to find a word for 2014” when I discerned that “detachment” has other forms and needs many more graces and much more prayer and reflection: detachment from my schedules, to do lists, and plans…from having and being in control. A long way to go and the need to go a different way as I leave this Epiphany feast.
My word is come. Come, inviting the light-Jesus to come into my heart. Opening my heart to Joy. I have chosen this picture of a rose to represent my word because I discovered the rose in my yard when meditating the word. The rose survived the cold weather we had.
The word SOFTEN was given to me…just saying the word helps me loosen my clenched jaw and relax…
Patience…it is a challenging word I have worked with before in my life…it is calling me again.
Some quotes on patience to start my contemplation:
Patience – endurance under thorny circumstances; good-natured tolerance of difficulties.
Patience is the companion of wisdom.
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.