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
My 2014 word is:
Joy
Pruning – cutting back to prepare for new growth.
My word for 2014 is: SHALOM: in the sense of peace, wellbeing, and wholeness.
Ease
My word is balance. Since a car accident 18 months ago I have struggled with balance in my body and continue to work to regain that, but I also feel a need for balance on many other levels in my life. I have been very body focused and feel a longing for more “soulfulness” and spiritual connection. Body, mind, spirit, and heart tended and loved as one.
Educate! – Myself and others – I love to learn and to teach – it is time for me to step into wisdom – absorbing and sharing it.
Spacious.
Am I spacious in my inner being to allow myself to be nourished body, mind and spirit?What needs to change in order for that to happen? What practices need to continue?
Change? What do I need to let go of? What new practices do I need to engage in?
Am I allowing the proper amount of space within to balance my time with others? With God?
I love words, God gives me words a great deal. This exercise was difficult in that I had too many words.
“Spacious,” was a word presented to me these past months in a small group. It continues to appear before me. This morning, I realized that it was my word for 2014.
My word is Centering. Last year it was Soaring but I felt more like it was Plunging by the end of the year. Centering describes my life now, as I head toward retirement and help the congregation I serve to prepare for that. My Centering in God and myself reaches out like ripples.
Thank you for the process and challenge. I much prefer the words ‘Eat’ and ‘Sleep’ but they didn’t choose me!
My word is threshold…time to cross it. :)
Humble is my word. What does it mean to awaken to my true self and still be humble? To love God above all else in myself and others.