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
At this threshold in my life, the word that has chosen to accompany me through the coming year is “HUMBLE”. It has, of course, arrived in all its forms (such as “Humility” and “Humiliation”) and with a troupe of relatives (one of whom,”Humus”, has already introduced itself). I know this year is going to be one in which I have to say goodbye to many things and ground myself, finding new ways of navigating and relating to the material world in love. If “Humble” can hold my hand, I may still see the stars.
My word for 2016 is “Me”. I feel the invitation to learn who the real me is and to nurture my gentle soul.
My word is flowering. It is filled with the hope and confidence I need to complete many projects and follow the Spirit into new pathways.
I just found this sight, and I’m looking forward to choosing my word using the mini-retreat!
Thank you for the gentle, guiding online retreat to lead me in finding my word for 2016. My word for 2016 is INTENTIONAL. I have much to do this year, but I want to do what needs to be done Intentionally. Not by chance, or whim, but with measured and considered prayerfulness and thought. I feel often my life has been about what has to be done, what needs to be done, filling responsibilities and what is required of me to be done. This has led to a life filled with TOO MUCH, too much calories, too much debt, too much exhaustion, frustration, anger, disappointment and excuses. This year I want to choose to make decisions and do what needs to be done because I have been intentional in my decision/choice. Whether it is eating a piece of cake or buying a car, choosing to read a book rather than do the ironing. In my faith, I need to be more intentional in service, in my daily life, in my spiritual growth and direction.
My “word” is STRETCH…spiritually, intellectually, and even physically…
dictionary definition: to draw out or extend to the full length or extend; to hold out, reach forth, or extend; to extend, spread, or place (something) so as to reach from one point or place to another…
My word for 2016 is ENOUGH. May I recognize the enough in my life. May everything I say and do reflect this fullness.
Problem with posting so trying again: My word for 2016 is ‘passages.’ This quote by Thomas Merton speaks of one aspect of the word: “A door opens in the center of our being and we seem to fall through it into the immense depths which, although they are infinite, are all accessible to us.” There is both a passage into the interior world, the deeper depths of self and also external passages. I await the birth of two grandchildren this year and they will make a passage into the world, and with their births I will be changed as well. There are I expect many unknown passages to be navigated this year, some joyful and some mournful. As I dwell with the word ‘passages’ I will look for the doorways that open and close.
My word is engagement (spiritual).
My word is :REPURPOSE.