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 4, 2026 and you are automatically entered for the prize drawing (prizes listed below).
Read Christine’s book Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year for guidance and inspiration.
This book is designed to help you contemplate what holiness is birthing within your soul. Each day there are different practices 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 book, you will be invited to release your thinking mind and enter into a space of receiving.
WIN A PRIZE – RANDOM DRAWING GIVEAWAY ENTER BY JANUARY 4th!
- One person wins a space in the mini-retreat Brigid’s Day (Imbolc) Deep Rest Retreat ~ Emergence with Christine Valters Paintner, Deirdre Ní Chinnéide, and Nóirín Ní Riain
- Two people win a space in our upcoming Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist 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 11th we will announce the prize winners!
270 Responses
Decluttering is my word, and it’s not about decluttering stuff (which I will do some of); it’s more about decluttering my head and heart to leave room and be open to what God has in store for me in 2026.
My word for 2026 is GOOSEBUMPS. I’ve always gotten goosebumps whenever an intuitive hit is spot-on or something happens that I need to pay attention to. But lately I’ve been feeling kind of numb, so haven’t felt them for a while. Today I came across a poem and there they were again. Goosebumps! (With endless gratitude to the poet Andrea Gibson, both for the word and for reminding me how to feel them again.)
Eldering – As I cross the threshold into my 80th decade I am being led to embrace and embody the process of becoming a well and wise ancestor.
My word is an instruction:” Take a risk.” It was handed to me by someone I don’t know, and randomly. Taken by the surprise of it, I accepted it and have been praying with it through the activities of Christine’s book. Along the way, I could see the word “ripening.” Other words that had been considerations, began to fall away. Exciting! Looking forward to how this word unfolds in 2026.
My word is abide. It reminds me that I live and have my being connected to the Holy One.
Open
This is the acrostic poem that came to me that will also serve as a breath prayer for 2026:
O Open heart
P Prayerful
E Expansive
N Now, New, & Free
Inhale: Open heart
Exhale: Prayerful
Inhale: Expansive
Exhale: Now, New, & Free
Inhale: Now, New, & Free
Exhale: Expansive
Inhale: Prayerful
Exhale: Open heart
Shaped
What will I invite myself to be shaped by this year?
My word is RECEIVE. Other words, PLAY and SURPRISE are emerging alongside it. After 2 years of seismic upheaval in my life, the ground has settled, and is now lying fallow for a season of rest, replenishing and preparing for the fulfilment of a promise given this advent.
My word is presence. Being aware of the power of bringing my full presence to each moment as well as spending time in more awareness of Gods presence.
My word for 2026 is seek. It will continually remind me to very deliberately seek what I want to experience! And in any and every circumstance I will make it my job to seek out the positive aspects, however small they seem so that they can flourish and prosper.