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
REALISATION. I have come to the “realisation” that I can change my life. I don’t have to be stuck in the same old ways; playing the same record over and over and over ad infinitum … I have also come to the “realisation” that I do have potential and the “realisation” that I don’t have to play the same role that I have always played, and the “realisation” that I can refuse to accept people’s role for me. I can change. I can start anew. I have also come to the “realisation” that I do have a future; that my life can be different from my past life. This “realisation” has helped me start to let go. My quote for the year is “Do not consider what you are but what you will be” (St Columbanus)
Been haunted by this word since Christmas Eve:
Adoration
“Rooted and grounded in love.” My word has been seeking me for some time …
My phrase for 2017 is a phrase from a speech by Steven Spielberg. It is “Be ready to hear what whispers in your ear.” This phrase will remind me to be open to the movement and guidance of spirit in my life.
The phrase that kept returning over the last few weeks has been ‘Rise and Build’. Once I had accepted it, I began to ask what it is that I have to build, thinking that it might take some time for this to emerge. As I was praying around this just yesterday, the surprising answer came ‘build an altar to the Lord’. It came with such quiet strength that I know this is a holy and significant thing that I am being asked to do to guide me through this year. Imagine my interest to see the word ‘altar’ appear in today’s Love Note! Looking forward to exploring what this means and how it will shape me this year. Thank you!
My word is lighthouse. It speaks to me, so far, of shining and grounding, of hospitality and protection, of stability and connection.
My word for the last season of my life was `disorientation` – but now I sense the edge of `possibilities`, and it brings a smile :)
My 2017 word is coherence. May the relationship and connection of all the pieces I carry and all the places I go be vibrant, centered, and open to include the surprises that will unfold.
My 2017 word is Presence. I take on the challenge of exploring the mystery of being.
My word is Surrender. I have never surrendered to anything in my life and late in 2016 it has been made clear to me that I need to surrender. This is my year of walking in that new place