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 Imagine.
It came unbidden through the back door of my thoughts with such a clarity and quiet certainty, there was no denying it was the right one for the coming year!
My word is Live. With so much loss in 2016, I want to live now. Be in this moment, and live.
My word is “twirl”.
My niece danced wildly to the carol, ” the first Noel”
At our Christmas
Eve service, in a very conservative church. Surprisingly, I whole heartedly joined her and realized my need to surrender and twirl in the Trinitarian dance this year.
I love this! Twirl on !
My word is “Surrender”, allow transformation, transmutation, and flow. Allow hidden parts to be seen.
Surrender is a great word that will challenge you and help you grow in your faith.
My phrase is actually an inner energy movement…it is ‘Let Love in’. Imagine if I practiced this once a day…..or 5 times a day…..or at the start of every hour….or….? I long for this to be my unceasing embodied way of being. Deborah
RISE is my word for 2017: Allow dreams to a-rise in me : Rise up to challenges : Rise above intimidation. I am so grateful for how my word attends to the hope I have for transformation+growth in so many aspects of my life.
As in the past, my One Word has found me. For 2017, my One Word is FEARLESS.
To add to my previous post, my one word Fearless came to me as I had promised to stop doubting my decisions, as I have in the past. Thus, I felt I must challenge myself to be ‘fearless’ in the new year.
bold & true
Beautiful
Outrageous
Living
Dance
Turn
Around
Unto (Unafraid)
Essential
So which word is it?
“bold & true”
the poems are in response to invitation of day 12 in “Give Me a Word” ~ in truth, each/all of the words may be guides/invitations for this time ~ peace ~
My word for 2017 is CREATE… Create sacred space, create mosaic art, create quiet time, create room to grow, create-ively collaborate, create community, create new possibilities, create beauty, create boundless energy and take and make time to create.
Peace is my word for 2017.