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
Retired in November, my word/phrase is “rest, wait, like a seed in the wintertime “.
My word for this year is “balance” – I especially feel the need to seek a balance between caring for my family and caring for myself, but I know that there are also plenty of other areas that could benefit from this focus!
YES.
Moving from resistance to thinking before I respond and allowing the YES to come in and be heard.
My word is “restoration”……both in terms of God restoring my soul (in the same manner of returning exiles home seen in Psalm 126:1) after a few long years in the wilderness, and…..in terms of replenishment, i.e. “re-store” my God energy deep in my core. That word is my prayer, my desire, my belief
Explore. I’m both excited and terrified by this word. It’s going to be an interesting year!
Play. My word for the year. To choose laughter and lightheartedness instead of the seriousness I am so prone to…
My word is “transparent” — an intention to become more transparent to myself — aware of motivations, judgments, connections. And to be openhearted with others.
My word for this year is “stand”/ To depend upon Jesus for healing, strength, and guidance. To stand in trust when there is crumbling all around.
Here at Weston Priory where I live near and worship at and am a Benedictine Oblate, we sing a refrain ” Seek the face of God and yearn for life.”…it is taken from the Rule of St. Benedict which says ” Is there anyone here among you yearns for life and desires to see good days?”
Wow1 Yes, this is for me!! It has been an especially touch three months for me here in Vermont…due to some chronic pain and struggles within our extended lay community here. But always, we begin again.
I could think of many “words” that could or should be mine…but I would say it is “yearning”. And I don’t mean this in a overly sad or needy way …sometimes it is but mostly in a “knowing” way! I know good days are possible and that God has many gifts to offer through Him and through creation and those in my community. And so yes, I am ‘yearning’ for this new life!!
Thank you Christine and John for all the you offer us and call us to be!
Peace and blessings,
Pat
The word that has been given to me is “trust.” I love that. It fits so well. It speaks to my need to learn to trust God, myself, and others. And it comes in the year when I have been called to let go of the familiar in order to live full-time in my calling to ministry. I pray that I can spend the year learning to trust in new and profound ways, knowing that “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Judgmental