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 is PRESCIENT
When it fell into my consciousness I was aware of such a feeling of joy and optimism at the same time, I knew it had to be the word for me.
Now I am beginning to travel with the word and wondering what its meaning signifies for me. I am reminded that the divine is omniscient, which again has uplifted me.
My word is Joy…seeing each day through the eyes and heart with joy, listening , obeying and trusting, seeing all experiences both ordinary and extraordinary as conveying Gods presence and message.
The word that has come to me is JOY. I have written it on each page of my journal to remind me to look for joy in my days. And to pay attention and notice what sparks joy for me. The joy is there and always has been but sometimes I miss it because I am not looking for it, noticing it, paying attention to it. It is calling out to me now – pay attention. Take joy!
My word is “SURRENDER”
To Let Go, To just BE, to let go of my Ego
Wants and Desires to have whether security or affection or just stuff.
To surrender my ego so that I may better observe, listen and serve the Divinity that is everywhere and in All.
My word for this year is “illumine”.
I like that it’s a verb, asking me to take action to spread light and brightness, and not to simply be a passive recipient of others’ light.
I also like the alternate definition: “to enlighten (someone) spiritually or intellectually.”
That is what I am seeking to do in my writing and consulting.
HAPPENING
Life is happening all around me all of the time, no matter how stuck or lost or lonely I feel sometimes. And just because I can’t see or feel the evidence of things yet doesn’t mean it’s not already in motion. It’s all happening.
distill…ANCHOR…commit.
Anchor,
rest and wait.
Settle in,
Settle down,
allow.
Observe what occurs
when I center down,
ground spirit into the roots
breathe and wait,
open all the spaces in the body
to whatever evolves.
Anchor into stillness
and let the heart speak.
My word is “united”
Look at the clouds
How they unite then part.
All white then grey
And now blue sky showing in
Where is the edge
Where is its beginning
Sometimes it lies
As fog on the earth
Other times it disappears
It seems, but no
It’s essence is there
Somewhere
And that is how
All things can be.
My word for 2023 is “RENEW”. As soon as this word came to mind, there were two scriptures – Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me” & Isaiah 40:31 “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”
Thank you for offering this annual give-me-a -word time of reflection.
The word that found me is “humility” and an awareness that it is my humility in relation to God that is being called forth…which can and must be lived in my humility in life, with others…but also must spring forth from my being willing to bow to God, to yield to God’s plan, God’s will as primary…to say with my brother Jesus…”i can of mine own self do nothing” and “it is the Father that worth in me that doth the works”