In ancient times, wise men and women fled out into the desert to find a place where they could be fully present to the divine 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, 2023 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, we are 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, December 11th email and at the bottom of each Sunday following).
WIN A PRIZE – RANDOM DRAWING GIVEAWAY ENTER BY JANUARY 5th!
- One person wins a space in our Lent retreat on A Different Kind of Fast
- Three people win a space each in their choice of self-study retreats
- Five people win their choice of one of our digital albums
- Seven people win one of our Dancing Monk Medallions
Please share your word with us in the comments below
(and it would be wonderful if you included a sentence about what it means for you)
Subscribe to the Abbey of the Arts newsletter to receive ongoing inspiration in your in-box. You can choose daily, weekly, or monthly. Share the love with others and invite them to participate. Then stay tuned – on January 8th we will announce the prize winners!
475 Responses
I love this process!! The word that chose me is Courage.
I hereby announce my word for 2023 is “journey”. I will be reading and reflecting on the Celtic understanding of journeying – peregrinatio – seeking, quest, adventure, wandering – it is ultimately a journey – to find the self that I might hope to be.
Forgiveness.
It’s a VERY FULL word.
The word that came to me for 2023 is connection. This year has been challenging for me in different ways, leaving me feeling lonely and kind of in pieces. Time to pick up the pieces, to reconnect with my inner wisdom, with people around me, with my ancestors, with nature, … Thanks Abvey of the Arts for this thoughtful path towards a word. Thanks fellow participants for your inspirational sharing. May 2023 bring you what you need. With kindness, Henny
My word for 2023 is Selah. I love that its meaning is not clear, that it is part of the Psalms and musical in nature, that it might mean “pause and reflect; that was important,” that it is feminine, that it means prayer in modern Arabic, that it might mean “God has spoken,” that it might mean interlude-a way of connecting two pieces of music, that it might mean praise, silence, end, or forever. The mystery is part of the intrigue for me. I’m excited to see how it is used in Habakkuk and what it comes to mean in my life.
Gentle
A beautiful word (for me) and explores the hope and possibility that I will be gentle with myself in my new endeavors …not critical, patient not impatient, kind not unkind.
So many words suggested themselves: health, joy, grace, father, god, divine, creation, self, holy, commitment, faith, love, hope, aging, purpose, charity, compassion. Yesterday I began to feel a stronger pull towards compassion, although as I still felt the pull of each of those words. Then, today, in writing to me on a different topic, a friend wrote, “Compassion is the key – compassion for yourself and others.” And all the bubbling up of words settled down and compassion floated to the surface and continued rising through my mind. Compassion is my word.
My word is Layer
My worldview is made of layers of belief. Going back, unpacking why and how I came to accept a belief. Looking for deeper layers, letting surface ones go.
My word is still. I need to pay attention to being still and seek stillness in my life.
Disengage
Let go of thoughts, ideas, images and just be