SHARE YOUR WORD FOR 2018
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 5, 2018 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 – The Wisdom of the Body
- One space in our Lent retreat – Watershed Moments in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
- 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!
433 Responses
My word is “unfolding.” Last year, I had “threshold,” as if I needed to cross over, into or out of certain things. This year, it is the unfolding of certain things I’ve kept stuffed down inside of me for too long. The major one is discerning my call to ordained ministry. The chorus to a favorite Steven Curtis Chapman song is: “And this is going to be a glorious unfolding. Just you wait and see and you will be amazed. You’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over. So hold on to every promise God has made to us, and watch this glorious unfolding.” Then the word jumped off the page twice on Day 8, Allowing the Word to Ripen, and in an email from a wise friend.
Remember – I noticed that the words that tugged had something in common – a long tap root. This one is multi-faceted for me as I have have lost and am losing friends and family to dementia, some much too early. I also hear the echoes of one of my meditation teachers who says that mindfulness is about remembering to pay attention. There is also the call through the root of this word to wholeness. And as I’m also interested in the neuro of why we focus on negative experiences and how that impacts what we remember and record I could feel the tendrils of this word embrace me.
The word that calls to me is ‘purification’. While it came early, I resisted, hoping for a prettier version, maybe refine or redeem, thinking that purification involved pain and difficulty. But alas, as you remind us to pay attention to that which is uncomfortable… ‘purification’ it is. Clearly I need it. Thank you for sharing your gifts Christine and all the other pilgrims. It blesses me beyond measure.
In 2017, I would find myself holding my breath. Often. Such an unhealthy habit, mentally and physically. Happy to discover my word for 2018 is breathe.
My word is HEART. 2017 was the year of LISTENING. From the listening, many words came to mind around rising, renewal, rebirth, creativity, creating, wholeness, expansion–all of these ideas are embodied by my HEART.
Hear the call. Dance to the drumbeat.
Energized, follow through and create
Art, art and more art. Yes! Say “Yes!”
Rising with love, reborn, the heart heard
Transforms
My word for 2018 is “stability.” After several eventful years with a new marriage, school and a new career, this year brings fewer big changes and I can settle into enjoying my loving husband and meaningful work. I will seek to be aware of what practices, people and things help me be more grounded and healthier and work to prioritize them in my life.
Wholeness is the word I am hearing- welcoming all that is with gratitude and a generous heart. Wholeness is not perfection but acceptance of the gorgeous messiness of life.
Lovely
Ask, Seek and Knock is my word (phrase) for 2018. It’s my intention to have a wide open inner space of curiosity through inquiry questions during the times of stress, anxiety, and the unknown.
My word is MARIAN-PILGRIM but, I can’t help identifying with every word written by Maggie Lunan who submitted her word just before I submitted mine! I guess kindred spirits we are, who are enriched and inspired by Christine’s brilliant work! Thank you Christine for helping those of us who want to reclaim our essential beings to begin to do so. From here, I will register for an Abbey January study course and really learn to fly!
My word for 2018 is Surrender and somehow associated with has come the word longing. Even in these days I have been acknowledging what I need to surrender – my addictions to efficiency, being organised, being there for everyone – at the expense of a longing to create.