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 is Balance. I am a minister and might if three young children, and keeping a good work /life balance can be difficult. There are other areas of life which could also use misread balancing, and this word seemed the most liberating and challenging for me in this season of my life. I preached this morning about choosing one word for the year and look forward to the discussions I will have with individuals as a result. I’d be honoured to have the chance to focus more intently on this process.
My word is Believe…so many trying events in the past couple of years have begun to erode my trust and optimism for the future. It’s a simple word and oh so needed.
Have resisted this exercise for some time but was sitting in my cell this morning musing on words when I was captured by ATTEND!! I have been sitting with it now and it is what is being asked of me for 2014. Thanks for that!
My word for 2014 is MINDFULNESS- giving focused attention to what is at hand.
Even at choosing that word, thoughts radiate out in many directions. A word just does not stand alone…
The word that has chosen me is ‘strengthen’.
I feel that this word relates to strength being a by-product of regular practices/activities that I aim to integrate into my life this year. Through rest will come strength also.
My word seemed to “shout for attention” …so how could I ever choose another? As 2014 unfolds, my word is “SIMPLE.” I will keep the hours of my life “simple.” I will allow the “simple” view of my back garden to inspire me to appreciate nature. I will treasure “simple” conversation with people in my life, and appreciate what we have together. I will enter – simply and confidently – into whatever life has in store for me.
My word for the year is WHOLEHEARTEDNESS.
I want to live more wholeheartedly, mindfully, intentionally and balanced. Last year my word was COURAGE – and as I reflect back over the past year – I can see places where I was courageous! I look forward to becoming or discovering wholeheartedness!
My word is JOY. In December, I shared with my spiritual director that my life has been so “heavy” in the past two years–the result of various life experiences. She asked me, “Where do you find joy?” As I contemplated the question over the next weeks, the word “joy” appeared regularly. Okay, it WAS the Christmas season, but still…! I realized that I am longing for more joy. Then, the following quotes appeared in two different e-mail reflections: *As the Jesuit scholar Pierre Teilhard de Chardin observed, “Joy is the infallible sign of God’s presence.” and “?You have to sniff out joy, keep your nose to the joy-trail.”?–Buffy Sainte-Marie.? This year I will “keep [my] nose to the joy-trail” and be awake to “the infallible sign of God’s presence.”
It came in a flash: spaciousness. We’ll see!
My word is presence. Be present to what is always present.