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
“Contentment” is the word that comes to mind. I believe I chose it as I have reached a place in my life where I recognize that it is something my soul is quietly ready for now, for after years of growth, questioning, healing, and tending the inner spark, contentment reflects a desire in me not to strive harder or become more but to rest fully in what already is. It suggests a season where I come to trust that my life, just as it stands, is enough and is held by God as it always has been.
My word for 2026 is THRESHOLD.
I don’t know where it will take me, but it’s been showing up for a couple of months and is asking for attention.
Sonder
The invitation to a deep appreciation of the complexity, joys, and especially sorrows of each person we encounter.
Welcoming.
Over the coming year I will explore what “living in hospitality” means in my life, my world.
The only thing I can think of is Hope. Fit every single thing.
My word for 2026 is SLOW. In September, I kept meeting snails unexpectedly and it became a guide towards my word. I anticipate exploring this word with a new (decreased) work schedule, trying new exercises like tai chi, and I know to expect the unexpected with our words. I trust it has something to teach me about which I have no idea now!
My word is Curious. It invites me to slow down as life hurtles its traumas and challenges toward me, not rushing to react, not trying to solve everything, but pausing to wonder where the Spirit is leading.
Not a word per se this year but a delightful image: the egret, a bird of grace and mystery, a divine messenger.
My word is Humility.
Transformation is my word. I want to see ,speak, and listen in softer gentler ways.