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 is “desire.” May the desires of my heart be in harmony with the desire of the divine cosmic heart.
My word for the year is “essential’. It is about sorting out what is the pure essence of life. Pursuing that what is most essential. It includes simplicity as a discipline.
My word for the year is ‘trust’; trust in God, in mystery, and in myself. I am looking forward to exploring this more fully and leaning into it.
Behold! My word is behold as I enter 2015 with an intention of staying awake.
Having completed the online Advent journey with saints, there are lots of wonderful words stirring in me. The one that shimmers most is “Brave.” It follows a theme that began with a piece of art I selected in the spring. It is a call to adventure. And pilgrim life like St Brendan.
‘Silence’ has been following me around for a while now even tho I have been being open to and trying on other words. It also feels like an invitation and possibly something I am craving.
My word is eventually – and to my surprise two other words kept popping into my head too – eventful and gradually – and it took several days to realise that my word was made from both
Happy New Year, friends. My chosen word is possibility…. to not only imagine the possibilities of 2015, but to BELIEVE and ACCEPT that God will present possibilities that will become realities.
“LISTEN. ” I appreciate the meditation and questions you posed about the magi. I felt that it came to you from a listening heart. This is the way I want to live: listening without needing to know, like Mary. I want to silence myself so that I can listen to what God is saying and, like Mary, to respond quickly and simply in trust. To follow a star is to have the same focus of listening. We follow, we listen to meet God in each step a long the way. It seems to me that becoming a good listener will be an important discipline in the days ahead.
My word is threshold.