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
Delight
My word is open-hearted. Open to receive, open to believe… open.
Thankful. In the wake of a difficult season, I’m seeing the need to remember God’s faithfulness in my life and in the world, and to keep all cynicism at bay. I’m inspired by Taizé’s song “In the Lord I’ll Be Ever Thankful.”
Welcoming Place
Thirizzened
this is the word that came thru, so far. I like it, it buzzes, it whizzes, it is challenging and unpredictable.
where will it take me?
thanking you for this exploring journey in this emerging new year.
My word is “Tree”. My poem…
She came to me instantly
as if she had never left
and at the crest of swell in Mother Earth,
like the final, soul-saturating inhale of breath
at the end of a yawn,
stood an apple tree
full of sweet, white blossoms blushing pink,
completely satisfied with herself.
So I sat
beneath her boughs
perfect for climbing
And I rested
my back against her
silvery-grey, smooth skin
And I listened
to her story of all the trees she had been
and what shall she be tomorrow?
“Listen.” My word for this year is “Listen.”
My word is “wanted,” and I don’t have a good grasp of why this one, but this is the one. Maybe it’s twofold – looking back at what I wanted and letting go in surrender, lightening my load for this next season of life. And it speaks to the thing so at the core of me – this longing to be passionately wanted, despite my niggling fears buried beneath everything – fears that I am not and will not be.
My word is Lucy which means “light”. Within the name I hear an invitation to live loosely and lightly. I will practice daily attending to my breath, choosing to receive the light and lightness of Jesus’ loving presence.
Experiment. My intention is to approach life as an experiment rather than a challenge or a task. With a let’s see what happens kinda mentality. Sure I’ll have my hypotheses, but isn’t it exciting if those break and fall apart as the experiment goes on. Isn’t it exciting if they crumble away to reveal a possibility, I didn’t even entertain. So let’s experiment.