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
Depth. To go deeper in life.
My word for 2014 is Transform.
I have felt this change stirring inside for quite some time. Circumstances over the past 18 months are compelling me to move across into a new form.
Traveled a winding road
Right to this silver gate
And opened it ever so slowly.
Now I am ready to step through, and
Silently I pray.
For blessings on this journey
On the new road ahead.
Remembering the angels who guide me.
My heartbeat quickens.
kindness!
My word is “explore”–a core value for me that got buried in this last season, but has returned!
My word is Joy. I have a longing to open, soften and deepen into joy which I for some reason resisted when it began to surface for me as this year’s word.
Joy
Just this gleam of light in the darkness
Opens my inner eye to glimpse
You, entangling us all in your wild, wide love.
My word is searching…to discover/embrace my inner dark side…what it means to love the difficult…to speak for and advocate peace and justice.
My word is Forgiveness. Forgiveness is a gift and it is the gift that I plan to give to myself and others. This is the year to forgive myself and allow myself to be free of the burdens that I have been lugging around. It is the year for me to forgive others so that our hearts can be closer.
Right-On Ruth
Hafiz has a poignent poem named The Violin. My favorite.
http://www.lapisilk.com/beadsofpoetryfiles/beadsofpoetry.htm
My word is “Yes!”
In light of our cultural shifts and changing life venues the gift word which comes to me is “Revisions” It contains the call to enter space for shifts and changes to occur. What was will not work in the world space today. We are called to be creative, more so, than ever to meet these changing needs and to keep the flame alive.
My word is ‘envelope’ surrounded, comforted, cared for