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
Very quietly the word spoke itself in my ear not too long ago…..”discern.”
Finding and holding those things that feed me; letting go of those that drain or are no longer relevant to my well-being.
Very quietly the word spoke itself in my ear not too long ago…..”discern.”
The word that wants me to unwrap it in 2016, is the word SOFTEN. Here’s the poem it gave me!
There Comes A Moment
there comes a moment
in the dark of winter
when the branches of trees
begin to soften,
ever so gradually
tiny buds begin to push
toward the lightening sky
gently coaxing the bark
to give way.
Keeper of the Light, Breather of Life,
Massager of Hearts,
turn my eyes
to the beauty all around,
soften my voice
to a whisper
of love and understanding,
massage my heart
to soften and bud and bloom.
who knows
what a bark-covered heart
is capable of when it opens
to the advancing Light
and the warm Breath of spring?
My word is “just float”. I must learn to release worries and learn to trust. This is the way for me to navigate rough waters. If I lie back and rest , I will be held and I will not sink. I have to believe that I am being gently guided down the stream.
My word is Hospitality, triggered by the Monk’s Manifesto… I had been working with the concept of partnership both divine and in the world in every interaction. Hospitality includes this concept and is maybe a little more specific. I am looking at how different aspects of the earth and the world support each other, who takes rest in whom, where do we live, with whom, and as the manifesto mentions hospitality to myself. Including, sheltering, treating well, etc etc. how the lichen and oak live in harmony….
The word that has chosen ‘me’ is HUMILITY…..crossing the threshold to a new year I desire to Follow Mary’s example of HUMILITY –
her faith – and bearing all things with HUMILITY.
Transition
The word God has for me this year is “Shine”. At first I thought surely Lord you can’t have “shine”
for me. This must be a word for someone else… So I waited. I offered other words. But in His sweet and tender way He assured me through Scriptures (Mt 5:16 and Phillipians 2)a shiny golden sunset on my contemplative walk and literally a “sign” a billboard sign, that said “Shine..” on our way to Chrsitmas Eve Service. He already has promised me He will “shine” His light on each step I take. He also has promised to shine His light into the deep places of my heart so I can shine like a star in the universe as He helps me hold out His Word of life.(Philippians 2). ? Yes “Shine” it is…think I shall like this word.
My word is LOVE. LOVE as a verb. LOVE as a state of being, LOVE as an orientation to the world and to others. LOVE as an emotion and as a unifying force. LOVE as accepting and giving, as opening and holding, as embracing and letting go. And to LOVE myself and allow myself to be LOVEd by others and remember we all are one in LOVE.
My word is EASE
I think this word has been brewing
Perhaps for a lifetime
And was helped
To birth
Through the return to your body
It fulfils
A dream
And a hope