Dear monks, artists, and pilgrims,
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 6, 2024 and you are automatically entered for the prize drawing (prizes listed below).
WIN A PRIZE – RANDOM DRAWING GIVEAWAY ENTER BY JANUARY 6th!
- One space in our Love of Thousands online companion retreat to the book
- One space in our online Lent retreat on A Different Kind of Fast
- Two people win a space each in their choice of self-study retreats
- Three people will win a digital album of their choice.
- Three 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)
Winners will be announced on Sunday, January 12th.
If you would love a retreat experience to support you in listening for your word, letting your word ripen, and carrying your word into the year ahead, please join us for our Give Me a Word Advent and Christmas season retreat which begins today! I am joined by many wonderful guest teachers and there is a suggested practice for each day from now until Epiphany!
Join us tomorrow for our Contemplative Prayer Service where I will be joined by Simon de Voil and Polly Paton-Brown to reflect on the gifts of Mary for our journey.
With great and growing love,
Christine
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE
P.S. We are delighted to announce the release of Birthing the Holy: Dancing with Mary and the Sacred Feminine! This digital collection of 12 dances and companion teaching videos by Betsey Beckman and guest artists offers another beautiful resource for engaging with the gifts of Mary.
Image paid license with Canva
233 Responses
My word for 2024 is Clarity. I am moving in different directions this year and will be searching for clear pathways.
My word is “listen.” I need to listen more carefully to both Spirit and people who are speaking with me, but to the messages between the words even more that the words themselves.
‘Welcome’ is my word. Thinking of the warmth and nourishment of this word both for me and for all those I come into contact with. Well. Come. Come. Well. Creating welcoming spaces that lead to wellness, nourishing, and then to flourishing.
My 2024 word is GRACE. This word evokes humility, awe, transformation, acceptance. Grace guides me to trust that I have and will offer what is needed to face what life serves up this year.
I have two:
Courage
Blessing
My word is Sparkle. I am reading THE LONGEST PSALM by Michael Casey, OCSO, verse 40 commentary: “There is more to life than simply living. When God enters a person’s life it begins to sparkle.”
My word is “GRACE” as I seek to be more accepting of others and myself.
My words come each year with resonance and “yes” from my soul. This year, my word is Blossom! It was quite surprising to me and I am carrying it with curiosity and acceptance into 2024.
I have 2 words beckoning me…Lineage and Embody. ❤️
My word “choreography.” I am looking to step into the dance that describes my life today.