SHARE YOUR WORD FOR 2016
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 January 6, 2016 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.
Subscribe to our email newsletter and you will receive a link to start your mini-retreat today. Your information will never be shared or sold. (If you are already subscribed to the newsletter, look for the link in today’s email).
WIN A PRIZE – RANDOM DRAWING GIVEAWAY ON JANUARY 6TH!
We are delighted to offer some wonderful gifts from the Abbey:
- One signed copy each of Soul of a Pilgrim, Eyes of the Heart, The Artist’s Rule, and Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire.
- One space in Sacred Seasons: A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
- 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 we will announce the prize winners!
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712 Responses
Intention. I would like to stay in the moment continuously be aware of my intention in every situation in order to stay on the path I believe I would like to follow and to be awake to opportunities that arise in alignment with my intentions.
Gaze. First at God and then at all who cross my path. Gaze. See. Love.
Be. This word keeps grabbing at me. “Be still and know that I am God.” Reminding myself that we are human beings, not human doings! 2016 –learning to BE.
Sanctuary. It came to me today that we all seek refuge from everything that would be batter us insensate. This year is one of creating sanctuary for the heart and soul of the world.
thank you for sharing this beautiful “thought”concerning your word “sanctuary”
My word is GRATITUDE. I have a feeling it will shape my life in profound ways this coming year as I look through its lens.
Christmas Evening, I pause. Listening quitely, words emerging … they come to visit, I write them down in my journal. The word “courage” surfaces and lingers… it nudges me and my heart stirs. I nudge back, and then return to the words dancing and swirling around me. But “courage” remains, and I wrestle with it, butterflies in my heart and my gut. Courage wrestles back… and claims me. I welcome courage in 2016 to open new doors, to walk through them and facing what’s on the other side, venturing into new ground with my new found friend, Courage!
COURAGE: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand difficulty, fear or danger. Courage implies firmness or mind and will in the face of difficulty. Derived from the French work coer, meaning heart.
Allow. As I held non-judgement as a word and allow I found they mean almost the same for my intentions for now. Allow shimmers for me more because I want to go toward instead of withhold. If I allow you to be you doing what you do, being who you are and I allow me to be me in all the same allowing, I unclench internally and I am peaceful and I can offer peace. Allow. Deep breath. Peace.
FREEDOM
Freedom from; freedom to.
Resounding cheers from angels above
Evoking the day of salvation
Eternal love of God
Delights my deepest part, yet
Odorous distractions and temptations
Mangle my best laid plans.
Flee! the angels cry! Flee!
Run! they say, Run!
Evincing God’s power to release the captive
Extracting this soul from fear of failure and shame
Darling Saviour died and rose for me
Overcoming sin’s penalty and death’s sting
Making me an heir with Christ.
Finally I see the glimmer of hope
Releasing me for a season of revival
Enticing me to a renewed vision
Entitling me to live freely in Christ
“Do not be afraid, ” Jesus says
“Only follow Me.”
“Mine you are, mine you’ll always be.”
Surprise
Surprised by love in the world around
Uninhibited,
Real
People
Reaching out
In
Search of connection
Energized by surprise love.
Gather
slowly and gently
gathering myself back to myself,
circling the flame in the Center.
Practicing presence
I will stand, speak, reach out, set out
and live from the Center