SHARE YOUR WORD FOR 2017
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, 2017 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 the Sunday email).
WIN A PRIZE – RANDOM DRAWING GIVEAWAY ON JANUARY 6TH!
We are delighted to offer some wonderful gifts from the Abbey:
- One space in our upcoming New Year’s online retreat – Spiraling Inward: Seven Celtic Spiritual Practices
- One signed copy each of Illuminating the Way, Soul of a Pilgrim, Eyes of the Heart, The Artist’s Rule, and Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire.
- One space in our online program Sacred Seasons: A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
- 4 people will win their choice of our self-study online retreats
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!
316 Responses
My word is pause.
My word is transformation. I like the invitation to be present to every moment as transformation, the invitation to see the transformation that happens in one breath, the invitation to see the pieces of the past take shape in new ways that transform the idea of “me,” the invitation to, minute by minute, transform my sense of self as separate to Self as All, the invitation to put paint to paper, to create something and in that creation transform not only that paint and paper, but my very soul, to watch the breeze transform the clouds, the sun transform the sky. To hold all this and the suffering that inevitably comes which in turn also transforms us. I want to be open and receptive to this process.
My word for this year is “trust”. This whole week, I had one experience after another in my life and trust is at the center of all of it.
TEND
After spending 2016 with play I think 2017 will see me walking with and exploring the word thrive!
First time I’ve seen this site- looks like a great place.
My word is “Finish it.” This is the first year the word/phrase came effortlessly.
Hi. My word is peace. I love the feelings that the word evokes and creating peace in my heart is so important to me.
I don’t have a word for 2017 yet, but my word for 2016 was CREATE. It was a reminder to me that I need to create things on a regular basis, as I feel incomplete when I am not using my creativity. Also, it was a reminder that I need to create a life of my own design and not just go through the motions or go with the flow.
My word in 2017 is to challenge me with my desire to drop all resentments as it has come to me in seeking to listen and comfort others; my word is humiliation and it lies in the darkness of my past.
My word for this upcoming year is, adept.