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
Listen
My words “Open doors” and “Angelic visitations”
I’m watching for angelic visitations (subtle or profound) as guidance and confirmation of which open doors to pass through. 😊
Listen(ing) – something I’ve struggled with over the years and was surprised when it came up so clearly today
My phrase for 2024 is Becoming Embodied Trust. This phrase will help me step into trust and faith deeply in my body and bring it to life. Today, I found this quote, and it made me realize that my phrase is the perfect one for me now.
“When the Soul wants to experience something she throws out an image in front of her and then steps into it.”
Meister Eckhart
Awakening!!
Balance…
Seeking to enter into more kairos time than chronos time to find grounding, centering and balance …
Wisdom.. An intentional discerning
Healing
Incarnation and Embodiment held hands throughout the process for me. Embodiment is the call for me to live in the present moment in my body. Incarnation is the reminder that the holy lives in me. I retire this spring and these words will ground me.
Moonlight – embrace the shimmering soft streams. Honor the moonbeam that is an older, wiser me.