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
Planting seeds of
Reverence and Remembering
Aligning and Attuning
Yessing connection with all that is Holy
Eagerly tending the soil of
Revelation through heart and soul
❤️🙏🌹
COMPASSION
Come with Me
On this year’s journey
Mindful of My love
Pausing often
As we meet in silence
Self to self
Soul to soul
Invest in others
Offer your best
Never fear
Give me a word for 2023… Door
The word “door” has been important to me since 2019, but I was surprised and awed at how door chose me in a renewed way for this very distinct time of transition and threshold for me.
Day 3—In a mentoring group meeting, a group mate reminded me of the image of doors that held such meaning for me, for her, during our SD training program.
Day 4—”Behold, I have left an open door before which no one can close.” Rev. 3:18
Day 5—“A door opens in the center of our being…” Thomas Merton
Day 6—“I will give her the vineyards she had, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope.” Hosea 2:17
Day 7—“The most exquisite fruits are at our doors.” Song of Songs 7:14
Day 8—Picture of a large church door
Day 9—“Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.” Prov. 8:34
Day 10—Picture of an open gate. “Listen! My beloved is knocking. ‘Open to me.’”
Day 11- Picture of an archway/opening.
Day 12—Picture of another archway/opening to the sky.
There is a door which no one can close,
A door in the center of my being,
A door of hope.
The most exquisite fruits are at this door.
This door invites me in.
I will listen and watch and wait at the door.
My Beloved is knocking. I am knocking, saying “Open to me,”
Door that leads to Divine union and fullness of joy.
My word is “Light.” And the following is my seven word poem:
“Light shines through me with growing grace.”
Thank you for this beautiful retreat! I did it last year, too, and it has blessed me richly in life changing ways. Your work makes a profound difference.
I wrote a 7 word poem/mantra: ‘Dear Soul, may we meet every day’.
I asked my soul her name, ‘Sola’ she replied…
Turns out it means ‘a woman alone’ (a stage direction, apparently), and is from the Latin ‘to soothe’ (of course it does!)
So, the deep, rich gift of my soul’s name Sola is my Word.
I will meet with her every day.
This year took me a while. I’m in a time of transistion, now two years post retirement, and I am wanting to evolve into my new phase of life. ‘Flow’was a possibility, as was ‘ flourish’, but this week, I realized that I need to shed layers to make space for what can grow, rather than ‘making ‘ it happen.
So my word for 2023 is ‘ emerge’. Im visualizing a flower with the petals opening to reveal the beautiful core at the centre.
http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/22200000/Water-lily-or-lotus-flowers-22283514-2560-1920.jpg
Thank you for the opportunity to do this retreat. There have been a number of words that have bubbled up, but the word that remains is: JOY
My phrase (entered a couple of days ago) was “the mirage will become a pool”.
I wrote a Haiku in response:
God sings – desert blooms –
Her awesome glory now seen –
mirage becomes pool.
The word that has chosen me is Be. A few years ago my word was Be Still (2020, 2021)… between COVID and moving across the country to begin a new call to a church that ended up being toxic didn’t offer many opportunities to be still. 2022’s word was Sabbath. I resigned from the toxic church in February and spent several months helping Denise clear out her Dad’s three apartments that he had crammed full of stuff. We packed up our own household and moved from Georgia to the Gulf Coast of Alabama where I began a new call on June 1st. Continuing to care for and walk with my Dad through the Valley of the shadow of dementia along with the work we are doing preparing the church to call a new permanent pastor has been pretty intense. Sabbath? I think we flunked it!
Then it occurred to me that perhaps in the coming year I am being called to simply be. Be present to the moment and hold on loosely to any agenda that I might have. Be present in whatever situation I may be in… simply Be.
I honestly have no clue what 2023 holds for us with regards to parish ministry (my contract is up at the end of May and I may or may not renew it for three to six months (it all depends on how close the church is to calling their new permanent pastor). I have no clue what the year holds for my dad and his continuing decline. I have no clue what will be happening with my own health concerns with regards to long COVID.
One thing that I do know is that Godde is calling me to simply be. And that is sufficient for me 💖💚☘️
My word(s) though difficult already is:
Body Joy