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

Do not always be wanting everything to turn out as you think it should but rather as God pleases then you will be undisturbed and thankful in your
prayer. —Abba Nilus

Once, during a question-and-answer session, I was asked how to discern the will of God. I fumbled for a moment and then gave an answer that combined the Greatest Commandment (love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself), the Ten Commandments as given to Moses and a bit of WWJD bracelet theology, “What would Jesus do?” For good measure, I also threw in a smattering of the Baptismal Covenant and the Catechism from the Book of Common Prayer.

Had I been prepared, I would have said that I believe that the “will of God” is the flourishing of all of creation, what author and theologian Verna Dozier called “the Dream of God.” She wrote, “The dream of God is that all creation will live together in peace and harmony and fulfillment. All parts of creation. And the dream of God is that the good creation that God created—what the refrain says, ‘and God saw that it was good’—be restored.”

Of course, this understanding of the will of God doesn’t give us easy yes or no answers about what job we should seek, what liturgy rite we should use on Sunday mornings, or whether we should even have church services on Sunday mornings anymore. Instead, this approach to the will of God asks us to consider the flourishing—the peace, harmony and fulfillment—of every part of creation impacted by our decisions. We are not asked to consider what has always been done, what would be most popular, or even sometimes what it is that we want. Instead, we are asked to consider what will move the good of creation—in our homes, our land and climate, our churches and schools and our communities and workplaces—toward being restored to the dream of God.

For REFLECTION:

This Lent, what question of discernment are you or your faith community wrestling with?
How could your discernment process change if you consider the flourishing of all of creation as the guide instead of making people happy?

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.