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 for 2014 is “gentleness” taken from Colossians 3:12. My focus is to live a life of being gentle on myself and those I encounter each day.
My word for this year is “story”. I am looking forward to seeing where I go with this word and how it presents itself through out the year!
My word is QUIET. Inspired by scripture “Be still and know that I am God”, and in response to a year of pushing too hard for answers and clarity. 2014 will find me waiting and listening, and making space for contemplation and deep listening.
I believe my word for this year is ‘trust’. I believe but I do not think I always trust in God’s plan for my life. I know my job this year was truly an answer to a very specific prayer but because the learning curve has been so extremely steep I have struggled with trusting that I could do it, or that it will be here next year. I feel God asking me to trust Him with not just this but other aspects of my life where I am struggling in relationships, financial peace, etc..
Integration
Currently my heart’s desire.
Courage.
I grappled between this & transformation and rebirth, but right now it is feeling like I need courageito have either of those.
Thank you for prompting me to think about this again.
My word is clemency – journeying with clemency inside and ahead.
HOLY ATTENTION
This was my phrase last year and I will always need to keep working on it. I am linking it to this years phrase, CULTIVATE SILENCE. They essentially speak of the same thing.
Time seems to be slipping away so fast these days. Many times I come to the end of my day only to realize I don’t remember how I got there or what I did. I am making a fuller effort in seeking the holy amongst and in the ordinary. Last year on a personal retreat I read a wonderful book by Esther de Waal titled “Lost in Wonder: The Spiritual Art of Attentiveness.” She writes “We have allowed our inner eye to become dimmed.” Holy attention takes many forms. Listening and hearing (they are not the same thing), sight, touch, taste. It is in slowing down and taking time to be silent, to notice and be present to the people, places and things we encounter each day that the holy unveils itself.
Acceptance
Many words came to me during the mini retreat but none flooded me like the word acceptance. This word encompasses much of what I which to embody this year. To be open and accept what is without struggling with the belief that there is “more.” I accept me, others, and what is and breathe in the word throughout the day.
I think I am late for this but what to share mine…Relinquish…one word for the phrase “let it go” which keeps coming up in so many ways. I am being called to let go of so many things…material, attitudes, fears…so I can be open to what God is calling me to live.