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
My word came out from another word.
First word:
INTEMPERIE (outdoors) which I feel is the way whenever I am in grief or confusion. With no shelter under a storm.
My second word is RECONCILE. I feel this word as a magical bridge that touches my past and present, where I need to feel compassion and love for myself. A bridge to cross with care. And to connect with the present whatever events, feelings, I don’t understand.
Reconcile with the not knowing and the mystery of life.
Así sea.
I have reflected on many words which ave shimmered including warmth, tender, light amongst a few others but it’s a phrase which has landed for me which is
All will be will x
I have experienced a lot of changes in life this past year. I feel a bit like an empty vessel. The phrase which has come to me is open hands. Open in contemplation, eager to receive, willing to give, pleading for grace.
My Word for the year is Cultivate your Garden. I love gardening, and all the work that goes into growing the different plants, from trees to the small annuals. Prepping the soil for the roots to grow deep and receive nutrients so the plants can grow strong and beautiful is a way to look at the Garden of the Soul. As I consider what to cultivate, Beauty has arisen to be the first to be planted. I know that as the year unfolds, there will be more plants that will come to my garden, where I can tend to their needs for strength and nourishment, and ultimately fruit to be shared with others.
So far my word seems to be understanding. Keeping my heart and mind open to what others are experiencing without judgment or expectations and seeking to understand their actions with love.
The word that is appearing to me is “Unseen”
The word that has come forth is “chains”. It came with many images: heavy chains weighing me down that need to be released, a chain attached to a vehicle pulling something heavy out of the mud, chains of hands around a tree for protection, fragile paper chain with hopes and dreams written by children, a thin golden chain bracelet. Much to meditate on.
The phrase that is shimmering in me right now is “Unconditional Compassion”. It triggers my imagination as to who I am supposed to be this year as we travel through these very difficult times.
My word is welcome. My word for 2025 is curiosity. I just fully realized , in the past week, how curiosity indicated being an observer and learning discernment. In this next year, I am led to welcome whatever comes my way. Welcoming people to my home, welcoming good health and also welcoming what I’ll learn from the health challenges I am experiencing at this time. It feels so right to have a word that indicates reaching in, reaching out, and receiving.
My word for 2026 is spaciousness.
I recently read the below in reflections by Edwina Winter “The holy is not confined to pulpits, pews, or pages of Creed.
The divine moves in the breath of dawn, in the rhythms of the tide, in the warmth of the hearth, and in the steady beatings of our hearts.