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
My word for 2023 – “Render”
– to melt down, or extract by melting
– to deliver, give up, yield
– to give back, restore
– to reproduce or represent by artistic or verbal means.
My word for 2023 is “candle”. I love to roll sheets of bees wax into candles. I have done this every year for many years and it is part of my advent ritual. I roll and burn rich red candles for my advent wreath and I roll natural colored candles to give and keep. I like to burn a candle when someone dies or when someone is going through a life passage. The burning candle helps me pray and hold space for another. I like the fragrance of bees wax and the warmth of burning these candles. In 2023 I want to candle ( examine by holding between the eye and a light) my journals to set aside inner work that I want to release in a ritual to transformative fire or keep to remind me of my inner life and journey. I want the presence of warm, gentle, and natural candle light as I take on this task. It is work I have needed to do for a long time and I am hopeful this is my year to cleanse and cherish – to candle.
Grateful
My 2023 word is
Openhearted
My word for 2023 is Together
My word for 2023 is:
SHINE
My word is longing
My word is a phrase this year. Welcome all – fear not. I played with a lot of words which I put into wordart, but I don’t know how to share that. The acrostic also shows my intent.
Watch
Embrace
Lovingly
Courageously
Openly
Make room
Encourage
Face
Everything
Arriving
Respectfully
Now
Openly
Truthfully
My word for 2023 is “Harken”
Harken
Heed ancient voices
Attend to the message
Receive their proclamations
Kindle the fires in one’s heart
Ears listening eyes open
Nascent wisdom birthed
My word is Community! Becoming more active in my groups & getting back out more fully post-covid. Also more interaction with virtual connections & Abbey offerings! ❤️