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Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year — Mysticism

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Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year

Name: Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year
Price: 22.99 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9798889831266

✍️ Paintner, Christine Valters

Reader Score

4.6

(1 review)

$22.99 ~~$27.00~~ Save $4.01 (14%)

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📚 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

This book revives an ancient spiritual discipline: the practice of seeking a single, guiding word for the year ahead. Drawing inspiration from the Desert Mothers and Fathers, who sought profound insights from their elders, author Christine Valters Paintner invites readers to engage in deep listening and introspection. Discover how one potent word can serve as a compass, fostering mindfulness, intentionality, and spiritual deepening throughout your journey. It's a transformative method for anyone seeking greater purpose and contemplative focus in modern life.

Paintner, Christine Valters

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Mysticism

Praise for this book

“Paintner takes the reader on a thirty-day pilgrimage to search for, acquire, and carry a word for a year. Based on an ancient practice of asking for and receiving a guiding word, this beautifully written spiritual classic overflows with transformative and heart-centered meditations, spiritual practices, and reflections from people who journeyed through this divine adventure. An excellent book for spiritual groups of all kinds.”

— Lerita Coleman Brown, PhD, spiritual companion, speaker, and author of What Makes You Come Alive

“Paintner has done us all a huge service by assembling the best of the best of life-giving spiritual practices that serve to nourish our heart's deep hunger for wisdom. Give Me a Word is a vast treasure trove of both ancient and contemporary spiritual resources that are simultaneously insightful, creative, and, above all, highly practical! Partaking in and of them can only prove to be a rich endeavor of the soul.”

— Wil Hernandez, PhD, Obl. OSB, executive director of CenterQuest; author of Accidental Monk and a trilogy of books on Henri Nouwen

“A seedbed of insight, wisdom, practices, and lived experience. This inviting text leads the reader to gently dwell in silence, receive the implanted word and savor the embodied life that desert wisdom offers. Be prepared for creative and surprising possibilities! While good company for the solitary reader, it is also a lovely guide for group formation.”

— Mary C. Earle, author of The Desert Mothers

🏛 Broadleaf Books 📅 2025 📖 197 pages 🌐 en 📐 Paperback ISBN: 9798889831266

Fun Fact

Christine Valters Paintner's "Give Me a Word" offers a beautifully accessible path to intentional living. It excels at making an ancient, profound practice relevant for contemporary spiritual seekers, providing tools for deep introspection. While those seeking quick-fix solutions might be disappointed by its contemplative pace, it perfectly serves individuals yearning for sustained spiritual depth and a unique framework for personal growth. This volume firmly establishes itself as a valuable resource in modern contemplative literature.

📝 Description: Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year

"An excellent book for readers interested in finding a new meditation technique or nonsectarian spiritual practice or who simply want to slow down and give more depth to their lives." --Library Journal Your word is waiting, hovering just beneath the surface. All you need is the quiet courage to listen and receive it. Beginning in around the third century CE, a group of monastics known as the desert mothers and fathers retreated to the deserts of northern Egypt, Syria, and Palestine to pursue lives of silence and prayer. A key phrase, repeated often among the sayings of the desert mothers and fathers, is "Give me a word." This tradition of asking for a word was a way of seeking something on which to ponder for many days, weeks, months--sometimes a whole lifetime. Fast-forward many centuries to the present day, and we find the practice of seeking a word being reclaimed by the spiritually minded in new ways. For nearly two decades, Abbey of the Arts has posted an online invitation to its virtual community before Christmas, inviting people to listen for a word to guide them in the year ahead. Hundreds of participants look forward to the practice each year. In Give Me a Word, spiritual director and poet Christine Valters Paintner offers thirty contemplative and creative practices inviting you to slow down and listen for a word to guide you through the year ahead. Instead of chasing after resolutions, Paintner encourages a more mindful approach--letting go of expectations and becoming open to wisdom from unexpected places. Give Me a Word will gently lead you through the process of receiving your word, testing its resonance, and embracing its meaning. As you reflect on and live by this word, you'll find it offering insight, clarity, and purpose throughout the year. Give Me a Word invites you to enter a season of deep listening, inner growth, and spiritual discovery. Slow down and listen for the word that is waiting for you, and prepare your heart to wrestle with your word in the season to come.

💎 Expert review

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Esoterica Books editorial team

Occult literature desk

While the concept of a single guiding word is elegant and potentially deeply moving, this book may not suit those who prefer rigorous academic theology or complex doctrinal frameworks. Readers looking for quick fixes or immediate mystical experiences might find the process too slow or abstract. The approach relies heavily on introspection and patience, which can feel unproductive to action-oriented personalities. However, for those willing to engage in quiet reflection, it offers a refreshing break from busy spiritual diets. It is best appreciated by individuals comfortable with ambiguity and open to subtle, long-term spiritual growth rather than immediate, dramatic results.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

This book is ideal for individuals feeling scattered in the modern world who crave a simplified, profound spiritual anchor. It offers a gentle yet powerful invitation to pause and listen, helping readers identify a single word that can serve as a guiding light throughout their year. By reviving an ancient practice, it provides a tangible method for deepening mindfulness and intentionality without requiring complex theological knowledge. Those seeking greater purpose, inner peace, or a structured approach to contemplative living will find this guide both accessible and transformative. It is perfect for anyone wishing to cultivate a deeper connection with their spiritual journey through simplicity and focused attention.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —

⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5

★★★★★

If you seek a meaningful contemplative practice, desire to infuse your year with purpose, or wish to deepen your spiritual journey beyond conventional resolutions, this book is for you. It's ideal for those ready to embrace introspection and discover profound personal guidance.

Reader rating

4.6

Based on 1 reviews

Esoterica Books editorial team

While the concept of a single guiding word is elegant and potentially deeply moving, this book may not suit those who prefer rigorous academic theology or complex doctrinal frameworks. Readers looking for quick fixes or immediate mystical experiences might find the process too slow or abstract. The approach relies heavily on introspection and patience, which can feel unproductive to action-oriented personalities. However, for those willing to engage in quiet reflection, it offers a refreshing break from busy spiritual diets. It is best appreciated by individuals comfortable with ambiguity and open to subtle, long-term spiritual growth rather than immediate, dramatic results.

❓ Frequently asked questions

No, while rooted in early Christian monasticism, the practice presented is nonsectarian. It's designed for anyone seeking spiritual depth, regardless of their specific faith tradition or lack thereof.

A "word" is a potent concept, theme, or intention you discern for the upcoming year. It acts as a spiritual anchor, a lens through which to view experiences, and a focus for personal growth and contemplation.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Ancient Wisdom Reclaimed

Explore the historical roots of seeking a "word," tracing its origins to the Desert Mothers and Fathers. This book bridges millennia, adapting their profound contemplative practice of receiving a guiding utterance into a relevant, accessible method for contemporary spiritual seekers.

Intentional Living

Learn to cultivate a year-long focus through the power of a single word. This practice encourages deliberate intention, moving beyond fleeting resolutions to embrace a deeper, more sustained engagement with your spiritual path, allowing a chosen concept to shape your actions and perceptions.

Deep Listening & Discernment

The book guides you in the art of inner discernment, teaching how to quiet the mind and open to the intuitive reception of your personal guiding word. It emphasizes a contemplative approach, fostering a profound connection with your inner wisdom and the subtle whispers of spiritual guidance.

📜 Historical context

This practice draws directly from the ancient Christian monastic tradition of the Desert Mothers and Fathers, who, from the 3rd century CE, sought profound spiritual guidance in the deserts of Egypt and Syria. Their request, "Give me a word," was a plea for a potent, concise teaching to meditate upon, shaping their spiritual journey for extended periods. This book revitalizes that timeless quest for focused wisdom.

📚 Glossary

Desert Mothers and Fathers
Guiding Word
Nonsectarian Practice

📔 Questions to reflect on

What aspects of your current life feel most in need of a guiding principle or deeper focus?
Reflect on moments when a single concept or idea profoundly shifted your perspective. How might that apply to a year-long intention?
If you were to listen deeply right now, what whispers of potential words or themes begin to emerge for your next cycle?