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
The word ‘trust’ is calling me…particularly in the unexpected moments, being open hearted to receive and notice the extraordinary in very ordinary places, people and situations.
The word that comes to me consistently is RIPENING… it suggests an emerging fullness, healthy nourishment for myself and others,
Of late, I have been taking delight in so many little things…..the solitary leaf, the form of a tree, the squirrel in the fork of the tree, the color of the late fall flowers…..and it seems fitting that my word for 2016 is “delight”. Although it seemed to come to me too quickly, “delight” resonates with me; it has chosen me! And so I look forward to seeing how “delight” plays out in my life throughout the coming year.
My word for 2016 is… mercy.
(It almost seemed too simple, finding and being found by this word, given that this is the Jubilee Year of Mercy. But if I try to consider any other words, the immediate message within is that I must not look elsewhere. This is the word. So I embrace it with joy.)
my word is Perseverance. after 40years of making art, returning to school for an MA and receiving it at age 54, and now at 69 going back for an MFA so i can continue to teach at the GTU in Berkeley, its all about not giving up on fulfilling potential-love-spirit
burn away are the words that have chosen me. Meaning that I wish to burn away all that has in some way, shape or form held me back or down; confined me to a certain set of standards or stigma or stereo type; burdened my existence with urgent things rather than allowing me to focus on important and life giving things.
“BE”…to live truly into who God has created me to “BE.”
My word is “own.” I’ll be paying attention to owning my choices, being my own person, and what I own. It’s about stepping up and taking responsibility in 2016!
The word that has chosen me today from today’s Lectio is Sight, with its many implications: insight, vision, perception, etc. I want to walk with these gifts, talk and immerse myself in them and take time to see the manifold presences of the divine in my life – really see.
Mary
My word for 2016 is nourish… To be nourished rather than just simply fed by food, study, prayer, friendship, family.