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 hoola hoop, as in “stay in my own hoola hoop.” Not the phrase I would have guessed :), but encompasses a lot of the smaller invitations I sensed during Advent and the 12 day retreat. It requires a radical return to self, a letting go of the “reigns” or outcome of other people’s happiness and lives, and an entrusting of myself to God for identity, instruction, and calling. It feels like I have to learn to hoola hoop well in order to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. It also feels like learning how to to be human – to have a body, to hear the chorus, and to slow dance through life.
Whole-hearted. As someone with 2 part time jobs and a family, I want to do all the things I am doing with my whole heart.
ALIGN. Because it rhymes with divine. And sign. and fine.
My word this year is “curate” which functions both as a verb and as a noun. As a verb, it means to gather together, sift through, and select for presentation. As a noun, it is an ecclesiastic entrusted with the care of souls. As a teacher, I feel like both are true of my profession, but they are also true of my life in this current stage. At the heart of both meanings is care, and I want to live my life carefully this year, curating and cultivating a vision of the good life, and caring for those around me. My resolution this year is to be a better steward of the things God has entrusted to me and this word beckons me toward stewardship.
I’ve finally decided on “constancy” as my word. I’ve suspected that it was my word since day 3 or 4, but two other words (“courtesy” and “control”) were being considered as well. I actually expect all three will be with me this year to some extent. Our family experienced a great deal of loss last year, loss not in just one area, but in many; in fact, “loss” was the word that chose me last year. Loss changes things; in my case, in ways I didn’t expect and didn’t want. With all the loss came grief, as well as physical and emotional exhaustion, so that hopelessness was always nipping at my heels. I found myself lacking energy and focus (something I am not accustomed to). I had a hard time being attentive to responsibilities. Some things I have simply had to let go of or at least hold more loosely. To other things, however, after careful evaluation, I have renewed my commitment. I believe that constancy to do what I have committed to do, not because I feel energetic and visionary, but simply because that is what I’ve committed to do, will see me through this time of adjustment. Constancy, especially to daily time with the Logos of God, but also constancy to our farm, to the animals and the gardens and forest, and to the people whom I still have, constancy even to those I’ve lost. I have embraced that just because something does not last forever, does not mean commitment to it is not desirable or important. “Always we begin again.”
I understand. Continuing on in spite of loss and grief takes courage and constancy. Best wishes to you.
TRUST. being willing to trust in God, going where He is leading me, and know that He has a plan. Trust in the plan.
ARISE. Leave behind the dense level of consciousness of so much of today’s discourse and dialog. Find the voices that lift us up. Rise above the toxic attitudes and noise. Rise to meet the challenges of life. Arise out of the depths of hopelessness and pessimism. Return to practices that keep us awake to the spiritual realm.
I’m going to copy your words and post them in my kitchen. Thank you.
Thank you.
We have the same word! I love what you wrote about rising above. Thanks for the inspiration!
Awesome. I’m looking forward to more insight into what this word has in store for us this year
This is my third year of letting a word choose me. It’s fascinating to see how often and in how many ways the word appears. My word for 2018 is “RISE,” or “ARISE.” I was a bit intimidated by it at first, but it drew me, and grew on me. As I’ve reflected, I now find the word “rise” to be full of energy, expectancy and hope. Sounds like waking up, standing up, answering a summons, maturing, being authentic, being given strength and courage to choose life, being healed and made whole. “Rise and take up your mat.” May I rise to the occasion in sharing my gifts as it surfaces again and again in the coming year.
Lighthearted- cherishing more joyous times with friends and family and as a reminder of my heart as the Light of my Being, leading forth in love. Namaste.
My word for 2018 is guru. This Sanskrit word means “one who dispels darkness and brings toward light.” For me guru has several meanings. First, guru is the One who teaches all of us, who dispels darkness and brings toward light. This guru is the absolute supreme being, creator, and divine lover. This guru is the source of infinite love at the center of the universe. In this sense, g)uru is God who is known by many names. Second, guru is any person or thing that dispels darkness and brings toward light. In this sense, guru can be a person Abraham, David, Isaiah, Jesus, the Buddha, the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King, Jr., Desmond Tutu, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, St. Francis, Mary); it could be some sort of writing such as Scripture, other spiritual writing, an autobiography (Frederick Douglas, Thomas Merton), a biography of the life of a person who dispels darkness and leads others to the light (for example, biographies about Saint Francis, Martin Luther, Albert Einstein, Elie Wiesel), it could even be a novel, short story, poem, or song (music). Third, I believe that I am being called to serve as a guru to others. So whether these others are members of my family, my faith community, my work, or simply other brothers and sisters with whom I share planet earth. I will try to shine my little light in the darkness this year. May 2018 be a year filled with less darkness and more light and more love. Shalom.
Kevin — I love that you’ve been responding to many who are posting their word(s) here. In service as a guru to others.
Thank you, Grace. I do enjoy letting my inner guru out to play from time to time! ;-)