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 Open. It came and chose me and I had that heart sinking yet tingling sensation that Open will be a challenging word to live with, yet transforming.
My word for this new year is : Be Who You Are
My word for 2023 is COURAGE
This past year my word was “Discovery” and in the new year I’m embarking on a relocation from CT to NJ (after 43 years in CT experiencing the loss of my husband of 47 years & our only child 1 year later)
My word is “virgin” – a total surprise given that I’m 67, married almost 40 years and a mother of 2. As I think of it, though, I retired this year so I am beginning again, all new, all fresh, all clean being born into a new Way. I’m very excited!
Intuition.
My word is thresholds. Those already and those that will appear, praying for the graciousness to step across into whatever is calling me to become in the future.
My word is Light.
My word is Trust
My word came very suddenly – ‘magic’. The magic, wonder, mystery and excitement of creating something new. The magic of leaving behind a little blessing in every encounter.
My word is “incarnate” – the verb!