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 Intertwine. I keep coming back to this idea that all of life is intertwined and I want to participate fully in all aspects
My word: BEAUTY. To use my own creativity to fill space with beautiful things and activity so there is no room for evil to fill that space.
“Awakening” is the word brought to me for the year ahead. It comes in part I think as a result of accompanying my mother on her journey home to her creator in 2013 and through the transformation experienced physically (losing 180 lbs. through nutritious eating and exercise, a tri-athlete now) so that my mom would not worry about me while dying — so that she could know that I would be okay, emotionally (learning and balance gained from Yoga and Tai Chi throughout the journey), spiritually (as new life is found even in death – perhaps most certainly through death) and mystically (through a visit from a Luna moth who taught me all of creation is sacred).
My word(s) are “sweet surrender.” This summer I listened to John Denver’s song, and it hasn’t left my head (or heart) for months now. So that has to be it…sweet surrender. What all does it mean for me at age 70. It can’t just be the obvious. I shall work with this for 2014 and see how many ways I can surrender and live without care.
Awaken. I’ve numbed, become lukewarm and felt spiritually fatigued in 2013. I’ve already made 3 pages of action steps to take in 2014 to awaken! And one is already being fulfilled in participating in the Abbey of the Arts community!
WORD FOR THE YEAR?
This year I choose God –
a word which baffles and worries
even my closest friends;
a word so vast to contain
all other possible words;
and a word which chose me once,
but I hadn’t the will to receive it.
Instead, one year I chose
that my word to explore would be Joy,
and then I found that joy is how
God lives and moves inside me.
On another year I chose Grace,
which unfolded the revelation
that grace is another word
for how God loves and holds us.
And Love, I’ve learned the long way, is another word for God…
Divine Spaciousness, Fullness, Oneness ~
I’ve delighted in this exploration –
yet how I’ve tiptoed, dancing around
the central fact within each of these words.
I’ve chosen Essence, Bliss, Forgiveness,
Compassion, Wonder and Spirit…
Beloved, Friendship, Sacred,
Beauty, Service & Soul –
and each year found that these are
among God’s sweetest, most favored disguises.
And then, in a time of unravelling,
searing darkness, grief and pain,
the most nourishing word was still God.
So this year, with shy surrender,
I offer my life and my being
to this word which blossoms inside me –
though I know not how or why;
a word which chose me once long ago,
that I accept now and also choose.
My word is “Forever.” This came to me after listening to a musical setting of Psalm 23 and noticing the frequent appearance of this word to me in the days thereafter. However, I don’t really know what this means in my daily life for the coming year where most things and relationships are decidedly not forever.
My word is ‘move’ and calls to me every day.
My word is Open. Open to the flow of God into the world through me. Open to being a vessel for right action. Open over tightening. Open over resisting reality or emotion or whatever is right in front of me. Simply…open.
My word is 14.
Bibically the number 7 means perfect ending.
2 x 7 = 14. We will have twice as many perfect endings in 2014.
Double doors will open for us.
December 31, 2014, will have a perfect ending.