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 3, 2025 and you are automatically entered for the prize drawing (prizes listed below).
Join our Give Me a Word Self-Study Retreat for guidance and inspiration.
This retreat is designed to help you contemplate what holiness is birthing within your soul. Each day there will be a different practice offered to inspire, challenge, and support you in listening for the word that wants to be spoken to your heart.
The practices are not about resolutions or goal setting, they are not about achieving more in the new year or accomplishing tasks or goals. They are about listening for what is calling to you in a particular season of life. They ask us to trust a greater wisdom at work in the world than our own egos.
Through this retreat, you will be invited to release your thinking mind and enter into a space of receiving.
Learn more here. Use code GMAW20 to take 20% off through December 31st.
WIN A PRIZE – RANDOM DRAWING GIVEAWAY ENTER BY JANUARY 5th!
- One person wins a space in the mini-retreat Holding Paradox: A Retreat with St. Brigid led by Simon de Voil
- Two people win a space in our upcoming A Midwinter God retreat
- Two people win a space each in their choice of Self-Study retreats
- Three people win a Dancing Monk Medallion
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 12th we will announce the prize winners!
201 Responses
My word is space.
My word this year is “intention.” I have begun to recognize that I sometimes drift into commitments and activities without taking the time to think whether or not they fit with my personal values/goals. I want to practice intentional living, aligning my values and actions.
My word is “steadfast”. I chose this word as I feel that is what we will need to be in order to get through this year with so many negatives that already seem to be present not only in my own life, and in the lives of some friends, but most of all what is already present in the world that will impact not only people but our fellow creatures and our dear Mother Earth. May we be steadfast in our hearts so that we can be warriors against evil and a shining light for the good.
Suscipe…this word is scrolled on the mural behind the altar in the Ignatian church I attend. Take Lord,Recieve is a radical prayer of self-giving and openness to God’s love. I want to dedicate myself to this exchange with God in a deeper way this year.
My word this year is strength. I’m excited to see how God reveals his plan and purpose through this word. I have seen Him time and time again show His goodness through this gift of a word. May I remain open with wonder to receive.
unbounded love
My two words are “slow down”. This will be to experience the joy in what I am doing and experiencing.
My word for 2025 is Connectedness. It is an invitation to explore connection as a line of inquiry and to revel in the surprises that may come from this question: What is my relationship to the word “connectedness”?
my word, or phrase rather, is WILD HOPE.
Acceptance
The ability to receive what each day brings