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
The word in my abbey (home) is Meister Eckhart’s “gelassenheit.” A state of being of letting go, not fighting with God’s will but relaxing into it. Freedom from disturbance. Inner peace. Christmas come to my heart.
I will spend time quietly reflecting on my year past on boxing day and up until New Year, during which time I will open to my word alighting on my heart. This year I feel drawn to combine my word with creativity, and will create a small paint/mark making/collage piece for each month as the year unfolds. Each piece will contain a word for that month, and I will make a small addition every day -spirit to paper- as a journal for the whole year. It feels like immersing in the path of the word in a way that expresses itself.
My word for 2026 is “authentic self!” Living from that place that is fully me and trusting that is more than enough.
My word is transformation .
My word for 2026 is PEACE … its always been very elusive for me … what does it feel to be at peace with the Divine Self & the World
My word for 2026 is Peace … its always been very elusive for me … what does it actually mean to be at peace with one-self and the world ..
Receive!
The word I’ve been gifted with for 2026 is “AWE”.
“Awe enables us to perceive in the world imitations of the divine…”
Abraham Joshua Heschel
My word for 2026 is maelstrom.
My spirit needs to readily dive deep into the powerful whirlpool, whose vortex has been tossing me about mercilessly over these pas months, that I might inhabit peacefully and lovingly my own, authentic disordered order..
My word is “now” or expanded as a phrase, “right here, right now.” It is not a call to endless activity but a reminder that all that is loving and sacred is in the present. I need only stop and bring all my senses to what is around me, a kind of continuous Holy Pause. As I seek to expand my awareness, my love of Creator, myself, and others expands in unexpected ways. Part of my practice is to read Christine’s daily meditations. They usually call me just to the place I am seeking — here and now!