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
Strong is my word. At first that word felt uncomfortable. When I rested in that word and studied it & read scripture, I found myself realizing that it’s more of a paradox – that in my weakness, I can be strong. As I rest confidently in who I am, I will find strength rather than the struggle to be someone I’m not. So strong it is. So be it.
Kindness is my word. I want to explore the depths of what that is calling into me through scripture and in the often messy praxis of ordinary life.
Intimacy in community. I love the Monk Manifesto. It was my inspiration.
presence. being fully present to the moment. present before god. god’s presence within me. present for others. those things only scratch the surface of that word… i’ve never done a word of the year thing before but there’s no time like the… present ;-)
Share my Word? Be Present! Too much of my life has been spent absorbed in either the past or future. Almost never in the present time. Too much remorse. Too much anxiety. Need release from both to fully live.
“Delight” is the word that has chosen me this year, with two aspects so far: Psalm 37:4 Delight in YHWH and you will be given the desires of your heart, and Isaiah 62:4 …You will be called ‘My Delight is in Her’ I am delighted to see where this word leads.
Here’s my haiku poem from the twelfth day. I didn’t want my word, but it’s the right one.
Grudging, I welcome
the fire that has chosen me –
my word: resistance.
The word that has chosen me is ‘Wisdom’. I very much look forward to sitting with this word throughout 2018. Thank you Christine for this invitation…
I believe my word is Steadfast. I’ve always wanted to be steadfast, unwavering; to stand firm in faith and obedience; a combination of perseverance and hope. As I am pulled in many different directions, it is always a challenge to have a steadfast spirit and stand firm to what I believe God is really calling me to. I have already had to put it into play this year as I say ‘no’ to some great ministry opportunities.
Psalm 51:10 – Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
My word for 2018 is WILD! As in previous years, it is surely not a word I would have chosen so it must have chosen me!!
Other words seem to call to me, yet the more “wild” came into my conscious mind, the more I knew in some way that I have yet to live into, it was 2018’s word. Came across a book entitled WILD & WISE: Sacred Feminine Meditations for Women’s Circles & Personal Awakening. Aha!! That was the Nudge I needed! May each of our words bless us in the new year 2018
Jane