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
Discernment
It’s a mouthful, but it is what I keep coming back to. The feeling of Open Heart, Open Mind, Spirit filled wisdom and vision.
I have really enjoyed this process and thank you for making this possible.
my word is sovereignty.
My word for this year is…GATHER. Together with the Lord there is intention, nuance, and readiness/anticipation in this word in beginning not only a new year but a new season in life and and in a new location.
My word is acceptance. To be able to accept what is and not try to make it happen helps me to build trust and flow into my life.
My word is CONVERSION. Even if I am 78 years old, I think God will lead me in a way where He will show me new things, and I will be changed.
“What does LOVE ask of me today?”
Letting-go
Many words came up as I wrote in my journal. Then the thought came, welcome them all. So the word for this exercise is “welcome,” but in the deeper Tanzanian sense of “karibu,” all shall be welcome from the heart, from my whole being.
There is a strong call to ponder, reflect and embody two words in 2023 … ‘Discernment & Receptivity’. It is being receptive for new ideas, vision and ways but also the discernment what is still of love, value and heart and what no longer is.
My word is CONFIDENCE
I will trust and have CONFIDENCE that the spirit will lead me, as it has lead me all my life, in the challenges and trials ahead of me. All my life’s learning and experiences give me CONFIDENCE for strength in what lies ahead.
I can look to this word in times of trial to know what path to take.