Episcopal Relief & Development’s 2025 LENTEN Meditation Journey . . . A COMMONPLACE Lent

Only God, its Creator, who is incomparably better and more worthy than it, can make the human Spirit content and happy. —Louis De Blois, Spiritual
Doctrine

God also spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name ‘The Lord’ I did not make myself known to them.” —Exodus 6:2-3

I work with a lot of young people, from children and teens to new adults. I have struggled to find a way to articulate what I have experienced both personally and communally—that “only God, its Creator…can make the human Spirit content and happy”—in language that resonates with them but is not heavy-handed or manipulative. Many young people in our communities, even the ones active in youth groups or church camps, do not claim to “believe in God” in the way I might. To them, this language feels false and rigid. And yet, I cannot escape the Holy Spirit-given desire to pass my faith along, to share the Good News of God in Christ, to convey to them the unfailing, all abiding gift of God’s love and presence that comforts, companions, convicts and calls me beyond what I could muster on my own. But the words I use seem to fall flat. You might have experienced that, too.

In Exodus, we see that Abraham, Isaac, Sarah, Leah and Jacob know God one way while Moses knows another. Perhaps then, there are still more ways and names available. And so last summer, I began to offer other names and words for the Holy to help bridge this understanding. Of all the options we tried, Love as a name for God has broken down the most barriers and assumptions, allowing us to come together as a community, to pray and praise, to lament and to wonder with greater shared understanding at the work of the Holy Spirit among and through us.

For REFLECTION:

What if, this Lent, you replaced names for God with the name Love in your prayers and some scripture readings? For example, “Only Love, its Creator, who is incomparably better and more worthy than it, can make the human Spirit content and happy.” Could you share your experience, good or bad, with your community?

Click here to read the introduction to the 2025 Lenten Meditation “A Commonplace Lent.”

The Lenten Meditations prepared by Episcopal Relief & Development invite readers to deepen their spiritual practice during the season of Lent, the time of preparation leading to Easter. Our 2025 meditations explore the idea of “A Commonplace Lent.” This concept reflects Episcopal Relief & Development’s tagline: “Working Together for Lasting Change.” We share in common the work of advancing lasting change in communities impacted by injustice, poverty, disaster and climate change.

We also share in common spiritual practices that strengthen our faith—prayer, worship, love, grace, service and so much more. The author explores another meaning of common in the  meditations: finding God in the common and ordinary as well as in the extraordinary mountain-top moments. Each day begins with wisdom from desert mothers and fathers, monastics and other spiritual leaders who offer insight into our common path of faithful discipleship and service. Each meditation concludes with a question for deeper reflection.

Episcopal Relief & Development is the compassionate response of The Episcopal Church to human suffering in the world. Hearing God’s call to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to respect the dignity of every human being, Episcopal Relief & Development serves to bring together the generosity of Episcopalians and others with the needs of the world.

This Lenten Meditation Journey is provided courtesy of Episcopal Relief & Development and was authored by Jerusalem Jackson Greer, co-executive director and agrarian minister for the Procter Center, an Episcopal farm, camp and retreat center in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio. As former manager of evangelism and discipleship for The Episcopal Church under Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, she co-founded the Good News Garden movement and oversaw Way of Love and Evangelism initiatives for the wider church.