Along the journey towards the greater, there are many small, daily steps to better understand oneself, God, and others. This is one of my “daily steps”.
A few years ago at a retreat in early January, someone told me that they pray for a word each year that will be a guide to their movements throughout the year to bring their life and the lives of those they encounter #light. Since then, I’ve noticed that it’s a common practice for many.
So, the past couple years, I’ve also chosen a word. This year, as I began to think and pray about what that word would be, I looked at a list of words trying to find the “right” one. But I didn’t get too far trying to manufacture my “word” when I saw one I couldn’t move my eyes away from – it was “grace”. In #Ignatian #prayer, you are invited to “pray for a grace” each time you pray. Basically, you are to ask for what you need from God – but what you really need deep inside. So maybe it’s humility or patience or fortitude or healing and so on.
Over the last year, as writing and sharing that with others has become a part of my life I have noticed that prayer and #grace have entered into it more and more as I have tried to let God guide my work.
So, this year my word is grace. I pray for the grace to know what others need to hear and what God needs them to hear and the grace to be able to put one word in front of the other and write it… and for the grace to always write from a heart of both prayer and contemplation.
And here is my #prayer for #grace by #stignatiusofloyola:⠀
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,my memory, my understanding,and my entire will,All I have and call my own.⠀
You have given all to me.To you, Lord, I return it.⠀
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.⠀
Give me only your love and your grace,that is enough for me.”
What word will bring your life light this year?
