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
ILLUMINATION
Shine yourself forth to the world with all your unique gifts.
Focus. I’d really hoped for something that felt mystical or at least refreshing and new, but here it is, the same embattled word I’ve for so long associated with lack rather than plenty, the thing I crave for myself then follow into a dozen apparent misdirections a day, sometimes an hour. It looks all simple on the page, but let’s see how it lives when I wear it around on my life for a year.
My word is “Thrive”. To not just live each moment, but to be open to all possibilities and live each moment to the fullest. To have eyes and heart open to see and embrace the miracles that exist in each day.
My word is “trust”. I saw it emblazened in flame during a prayer session and
though the word was ablaze, like the burning bush of Moses, it was not being
consumed. So, I guess it’s past the point of shimmering! I am in the midst of big changes. In my reflections, one thing I noticed was that the word begins and ends with the letter “t”. The shape of the cross! I feel this is calling me to a deeper committment to… whatever God is calling me to. And whatever it is
it begins and ends with “trust”. I pray for the clarity, courage, and grace to answer that call! (And in the meantime I’m having fun writing reflections on what the gift of this beautiful sacred word can mean…)
My word is revealing itself to be “fullness”. Fullness of time, life in abundance, fulfillment of promises, and so on. Especially coming after last year’s word which was courage, there are many wonderful layers to this year’s word, including trust and hope and expectant faith.
My word is short and sweet: Yes. It is the one that filtered up from my heart and the one I know to be true. It is a yes to embracing things I have feared as well as being open to what the year may bring me. I wrote of it briefly in my blog here: http://jacquidurocher.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/my-word-for-2015/
Thank you for inspiring me to find my word.
If I had to narrow it down to one word, it would be GRACE. Grace is the energy in which i want to live and move and having my being.
My sentence that will be my meditation practice this year: Daring greatly (see Brene Brown book of that title) in the unhurried rhythm of God’s grace.
May it be so.
The word that grabbed me this year is ‘stretch.’ Last year was a year of surgery and long recovery, necessitating a series of withdrawals. This year, now walking and strong, I long to reach out to life with all my energies. So far that means joining a couple of singing groups and preparing to write a book about my journey with my mom through dementia. Who knows what might be next? Oh yes, there is that milestone birthday in less than 3 weeks (70) and that milestone anniversary at the end of this year (50). Yes. Stretch is a great word for this year.
My word is Nuture. It is a continuation on a very long journey to wholeness. The first year I listened for a word it was ’empower’, last year it was ‘transition’, and this year the word ‘nuture’ choose me. It truly is time to focus on nurturing myself and my soul.
Nourish is my word. I am a gardener and this word reveals a lot to me of what I consider important. There are many things which nourish me but the Word is what makes the real difference in my life. Even in the first lesson in church
yesterday from Jeremish 31 where we hear “Hear the word of the LORD and…….”their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance…..”