Share your Word for 2015
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 Tuesday, January 6, 2015 and you are automatically entered for the prize drawing (prizes listed below).
A free 12-day online mini-retreat to help your word choose you. . .
As in past years, 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. Even if you participated last year, you are more than welcome to register again.
Sign up here and you can start your mini-retreat today. Once you subscribe you will receive the first email within an hour and then one email each day for 12 days. Your information will never be shared or sold.
Win a Prize – Random Drawing Giveaway on January 6th!
I am delighted to offer some wonderful gifts from the Abbey and friends and supporters of the Abbey’s work:
- One space in the upcoming online Abbey retreat Illuminating the Way: Epiphany and New Year Retreat with Monks, Mystics, & Archetypes (a fabulous way to begin the year!)
- A copy of Dana Reynolds‘ fabulous gold medal winning novel Ink and Honey
- A 6-week self study course from Dana Reynolds: Your Sacred Life Artisan’s Book of Wonderment
- A New Year Sacred Reading from the Ronna Detrick (let a woman from scripture accompany you into the new year!)
- A copy Betsey Beckman’s fabulous dance of The Creation on DVD (be inspired to dance into the new year)
- A copy of As I Lay Pondering from Kayce Hughlett (a wonderful book of daily reflections to accompany you into the new year)
- A 2015 calendar from Stacy Wills featuring her alcohol ink paintings (be blessed with Stacy’s stunning images each month)
- A copy of Richard Bruxvoort Colligan’s new album Love Stands With, with songs based on justice-oriented Psalms (be moved by powerful music to inspire your heart to prophetic action in the coming year)
- 4 people will win a copy of Sick and You Cared for Me: Homilies and Reflections for Cycle B with one reflection by Christine, plus also Richard Rohr, Rob Bell, Jan Richardson, and many more!
- 4 people will win their choice of self-study online classes from the 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 to receive ongoing inspiration in your in-box. 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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804 Responses
My word for this year is a greek word I discovered: sophrosyne meaning a healthly state of mind, characterized by self control, moderation and a deep awareness of one’s true self, and resulting in true happiness.
My word for 2015 is “behold,” which means to see with attention. It reminds me to be mindful, to pay attention to my life, my relationships, the choices I make each day. To live with intention and attention in every moment. To take time for silence and solitude, so that I might “behold” the Holy One.
My word is walk.
I feel deeply called to quiet, yet am receiving a gentle nudge to move forward with life. By walking one step at a time I hope to be present and aware of what is folding.
My word is “Selah”. I kind of stumbled over it as I was doing research on how to choose a word (I hadn’t found the emails from you for this yet.) And it’s a musical term (so was last year’s word, which didn’t really end up anywhere, alas), and the meaning of it is uncertain, whether it is to call for a refrain of praise, or to pause and let the words of the psalm seep in, a “stop and ponder”. Ponder was one of the words that came up during my Advent lectio and as I was also blogging about the Magnificat at the time, really held on and resonated … and so “Selah”, in a sense, pondering the mystery…
Yirah (one of the Hebrew words for fear): the feeling that overcomes us when we’re inhabiting a larger space, literally or metaphorically…it’s the fear we have when we possess more energy than we normally have; and it’s the feeling we feel when we’re in the presence of the divine or sacred.
My word of the year – re-frame. Look at the other potential scenarios around situations; examine different ways of looking at the world; let go of judgment and outcomes- re-frame (possibly better align!) my souls/mind/body connection.
As I read the post, “grace” popped into my head. I wouldn’t have necessarily chosen this word and I feel slight resistance, so I know it will be a full and rewarding journey to explore this word more.
Tender, to daily be soft and gentle.
Although, tender can also mean an offering, so despite my intentions to be soft and gentle, I may find that my life this year is meant to be as an offering. I am proceeding with the intention to be soft and gentle, and I will be open to invitations to make an offering of myself, hopefully just as light and love.
I will know in 365 days what the divine meant for me when tender called my name.
My word for 2015 is “surrender” — release the need to hold on to emotional forces from the past that hinder living in the present; surrender, let go of so much material stuff that clutters my physical space and weighs on my mind; surrender, slow down and smell the roses that decorate my living as a person who is in my early seventies.
Intentional Mindfulness – a deliberate intention to be fully immersed in and aware of the choices, opportunities, challenges and blessings of my every day life.