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
Ebb&Flow – this is the recurring phrase received while on am walks…looking at nature and enjoying it unconditionally…knowing there’s an ebb&flow in all things-applying that knowing to my life-and to remember that for 2018 –
BEGIN AGAIN – in the spirit of St. Benedict’s “Always we begin again.”
Strength
Vitality.
I have finally accepted the word that has been pursuing me all my life – Patience; with patience also comes (hopefully) discipline. Yesterday in church our minister passed around bags with words in them and my husband got the first one which was Patience while I picked the next one which was Easter. I knew his was meant for me and so did he! Some of the lessons for teaching patience can be hard which is probably why I haven’t accepted this through the years. We are entering the years of our lives where much patience is needed with our changing bodies and lack of energy – among other things! I must say I find it interesting that so many have chosen Cultivate; I like that word and what it can mean in so many places in our lives. This has been an interesting exercise in this Season of Anticipation and “waiting” patiently.
My word is RECOVER. It’s not what I thought it would be a few weeks ago, but encompasses all the other words I was entertaining. Recover for me means to return to, reclaim, redeem, find again. Among other things, this year I want to RECOVER joy, RECOVER Center, RECOVER health in body, mind and soul, RECOVER depth, and RECOVER friendships. Here’s to a year of RECOVERING!
The word that caught me is Cultivate. When I was quite sure that this was the word I needed, my mind got busy and thought of all the ways and levels this word would work for me. Sowing… weeding… amending the soil… reaping… and on and on.
And then I realized that this word is seasonal. And now is the fallow time. I didn’t think this was the right time for ‘fallow’. I was ready to take charge of this word. But it is the right time. I have a hard time with waiting, patience, letting process happen. So yes, fallow is a good way to begin this year where I Cultivate. Not even knowing what/how I am cultivating.
But the Rule of Benedict talks of cultivating virtue. And this year I’m living in a Benedictine monastery, steeping myself in the Rule.
What a blessing to receive this word at this time in my life!
Hello everyone and greetings, 2018! I reflected on my word and it came to me yesterday as i was journaling! My word for this year is ALIVE. I will be 30 years old in July and I am so very excited and grateful! I have fun, inspiring journeys planned this year and I am keeping my heart open for anything else that calls to me and will continue shaping me ?? I have the privilege of serving families who choose to save lives through organ donation. I learn so much from them; I learn about strength, courage, the power of love, the transformative power of grief. I want this year to be a tribute of sorts to those heroes. To live fully each day!
My word is imperfection. So many times I strive for what is better, what I need to make my life perfect. I want to get rid of the imperfections. This retreat has encouraged me to acknowledge them, to wallow and dance with them, to enjoy the imperfections that make me me!
My word is Acceptance; Acceptance of my circumstances which are out of my control. Acceptance of myself as a loving caring person, and acceptance of all the Blessings that have been and will be bestowed upon me for I am worth it!