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!
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.
680 Responses
I am not sure whether I have chosen the word or it has been chosen for me: “Determination”. I bow my head and surrender to an absolute certainty that this will be the year that everything changes and I am determined to experience every blessed minute.
Last year, my word was Surrender. This year it is Freedom…
Find and feel at the core of your being your
Rightful place, your ongoing
Ever evolving embodiment of
Expression, of
Dreaming into the world what
Only you can offer
Manifesting your sacred fire
The word “beckoning” chose me. Given the “full catastrophe” life I’ve been living for the past 3 years – that at present has left me in a state of frenzied paralysis – it seems wildly inappropriate, and far too gentle. At times I want to scream “THIS IS NOT “BECKONING”! THIS IS OVERKILL, THIS IS BEING BLUDGEONED INTO NON-BEING – or at the very least being nibbled to death by ducks….. But no, “beckoning” it remains – calling softly, gently, lovingly. Where? When? Why? How? Please tell me how, please. At least I don’t need to ask Who.
Last year my word was “nurture.” That one made sense from the start and was a focus all year. But this year’s is more puzzling. After sitting with openness for a while, the word “respect” came. Actually, it was more like RESPECT. I’m curious to see how it is a focus this year.
During Advent the word “light” kept nudging me.
…not just God’s light, but my own! Wow!
I am responsible for being in the light, finding light in dark situations , and BEING light ! Whew! Tall order! Big work! Here we go!
Light is beginning to sound a lot like love.
holy
i read the idea of a word choosing one and “holy” just appeared, resounded..and it has stuck around for several days now so it must be the right word.
holy is a reminder that all is
holy is a reminder to sense what god is saying rather than arguing for my own point
holy is a reminder….for the rest of the year.
thank you for the opportunity to find holy; )
CALL. Such a simple word, but with reverberations. May I listen with the ears of my heart to the stars singing their callings, the sound of a temple bell in the woods….however the Voice of God is whispered. May I become one who can call forth the gifts that are hidden in those around me.
Waiting. Changes are brewing on the horizon and my job is to live in the moment while being open to whatever those changes will bring in my life and in the lives of my family.
“Stillness” is the word for me this year.
The absence of constant idle chatter,
the need to always have the background noice
in play …from myself or others …masking the
constant wrestling within myself…perhaps fearing
what might be revealed. Yes, I want to welcome
stillness with quiet listening.
We’ve been in a cycle of depression and stress. My word is trust.