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
To the ABBEY website: My word for 2015 is “Aloha”.
It is my understanding when you go deeply into the hidden meaning, the hidden
wisdom of Huna and the Hawaii language , you will find that “Ahoha” is more than a greeting of simply “hello” or “goodbye”. In addition, “Aloha” is “Love”, which certainly is an worthy word for any moment, any day, any year or a lifetime.
I have chosen “Aloha” for the hidden wisdom meaning: “Be with the Breath of God”
which includes for me and implies love (and the feeling of love implicit in heartfelt greetings
and goodbyes of Hawaiians. This thinking evolved from my desire to “remember God”, my word re-emerging out of this Advent Season, a lifetime desire, “to practice the Presence”.
For me, what better way to bring my awareness back to God, than through practicing “being with
“the Breath of God”.
New Voice/New Vision. This begins the 3rd New Year after my husband’s death and I’m hoping just maybe I can begin to fully embrace being alive, pursuing new dreams, seeing with new eyes, being present here in this life, and listening to my own new voice.
Generous comes to me after reading 1John this morning, “grace upon grace”!
I will look for God’s generosity, His grace upon grace, this year, in all the ordinariness of my days, and be so thankful when I recognize it!
Whole.
My word for 2015 seems really strong this year and seemed to come immediately when I gave it attention. It is Silence. I have such a longing for this in my life at this time. One other word that seems so connected to Silence is Light – the Light that comes from silently listening. Blessings on all of you as you ponder your word for the year.
Scarcely before I completed signing in, the “word” swept in as if on wings. Surrender. Not the word I expected. Before I could protest or choose another word, I could feel “surrender” making a home for itself deep within. “Surrender” came alive. As I sat with her, I remembered the words, the prayer written by Reinhold Neighbur so long ago–loosely translated–“help me release/surrender the things I cannot change, change the things I can, and give me the wisdom to know the difference.” Surrender, a word of empowerment, perhaps–a reminder that in letting go of that which no longer serves, gives invitation to mystery, to silence–yes, to hearing the whisper of the still small voice that has been waiting all along. I give thanks.
Discovery and Connection for 2015 – I love this practice. I have held the words I’ve chosen in my heart for the last few years and marvelled at how they have manifest in my life.
My words are Outrageous Openness. I admit I took this from someone else’s word. However, I have been using Open as my word for several years and it has done me well but when I saw these words, it struck me that this is my next step to be open to Outrageous Openness in 2015.
Wonder
My 2015 phrase is Radical Engagement. I feel that I’ve been immersing myself in spiritual theory and in the stories of others’ spiritual journeys, but have been avoiding becoming fully engaged in my own practices. I will be working on a creative project (writing and photography) in 2015 around my journey From Acedia to Radical Engagement.