Christine Valters Paintner is the online abbess at Abbey of the Arts, a virtual global monastery offering retreats, prayer services, books, and resources to nurture contemplative practice and creative expression. A writer, poet, spiritual director, and teacher, she earned her PhD in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley and is a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE). Paintner is the author of over 20 books on spirituality including The Artist's Rule and Breath Prayer. She and her husband, John, live on the west coast of Ireland, where together they shepherd Abbey of the Arts and lead online programs.
Description
Introduction Prelude: Savor Part One: Listening for a Word 1. Cross the Threshold 2. Listen with the Heart 3. Let the Word Choose You 4. Lectio Divina with Life Experience 5. Embodied Examen Prayer 6. Give Me One Wild Word 7. Tend the Night Wisdom of Dreams 8. Consult a Soul Friend 9. Read a set of spiritual principles 10. Memento Mori: Imagine Your Deathbed Interlude: Surplus Part Two: Receiving the Word 11. Allow the Word to Ripen 12. Trust What You Love 13. Consult the Desert Elders 14. Create a Pantoum 15. Pilgrimage of Memory 16. Attune to Your Body's Wisdom 17. Listen to the Elements 18. Contemplative Photography Pilgrimage 19. Call on the Angels, Saints, and Ancestors 20. Bring Your Word to a Threshold Place Interlude: Hermit Part Three: Carrying the Word with You 21. Create a Breath Prayer 22. Choose a Spiritual Teacher 23. Illustrate the Word Visually (drawing or collage) 24. Write an Acrostic Poem 25. Create a Playlist of Word-Themed Songs and Dance 26. Commit to a Word-Rooted Practice 27. Write a 7-Word Prayer 28. Create a Simple Word-Centered Rule of Life 29. Lectio Divina with Revelation 2:17 30. Going Forward into a New Season Postlude: Distillation New Year Blessing Acknowledgments Notes
Reviews
"This book helped me feel the difference between the din and the hum of the world. With its help, I'm learning to quiet the one and embrace the other." --Jon M. Sweeney, author of The Complete Francis of Assisi and Sit in the Sun "Give Me a Word welcomes us into wise, gentle activities for embracing radical simplicity in our day-to-day lives, in community with others. Reading it feels like a desert amma or abba turned up where you live, rapped on your door, handed you a papyrus scroll, and said: 'Heard you've been asking for a map to my cave. Visit anytime for a word.' Highly recommend it to anyone wanting to live in and from the calm and compassionate intersection of time and eternity!" --Carmen Acevedo Butcher, PhD, poet and award-winning translator of The Cloud of Unknowing, Practice of the Presence by Brother Lawrence, and works by Hildegard of Bingen "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 not only guides the reader to the point of choosing their own word of life but also invites them into dancing with that word throughout the year. With ancient practices and creative counsel, this book is a constant balm for every ache, joy, and longing along the way." --Cassidy Hall, author of Queering Contemplation, cohost of the Encountering Silence podcast, and creator of the Contemplating Now and Queering Contemplation podcasts "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 "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 "Paintner possesses a unique gift for bringing ancient, Christian contemplative wisdom into the present for those of us navigating the realities of modern life." --Dr. Jamie Marich, author of You Lied to Me About God and Dissociation Made Simple, and founder of The Institute for Creative Mindfulness "Every chapter in Christine Valters Paintner's Give Me a Word, and her guided meditations included throughout the book, are grace-filled invitations that not only remind us, but even equip us, to bring our awareness from our mind to our heart, and to live from 'this place of receptivity and intuition.'" --Caroline Oakes, author of Practice the Pause