Having just returned from my own desert study time, I am inspired to accept this year's Abbey of the Arts invitation from Christine and offer it to you ...
In ancient times, wise men and women fled out into the desert to find a place where they could be fully present to God 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.
One tradition being revived is to ask for a word – 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 – "what is Your word for me" we ask – something to nourish me, challenge me, a word I can wrestle with and grow into. The word that has the potential to transform me.
- 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?
Need some help in the process? Christine offers a gift of 12 days of enotes and
spiritual practice that inspirit us to recognize our 'word' for the year ahead and to allow it to deepen within us. Participation is free. Signup available here.
