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

Complaining is the acid that shrivels our own souls and the soul of the community around us as well.” —Joan Chittester on the Rule of Benedict

Nothing sends fear like a dagger into the hearts of librarians more than the dreaded monster known as Damp. If you reshelve even one single, lone damp book back in the stacks, it can, over time, infect all the books. Hidden within the stacks, the Damp will turn to mildew, which will expand and reproduce silently, traveling from book to book until someone notices the overpowering smell of mold, and a whole section of infected books has to be tossed in the dumpster.

I think Damp and Complaining are two sides of the same monster. I have seen one damp, bitter, snarky, murmuring complaint have the same effect on a community, spreading the mildew of discord or a spirit of ingratitude, infecting conversations, attitudes and outcomes. When I worked in a library, a damp book was only allowed to be reshelved after it had thoroughly dried out, been inspected and cleared.

Lent is a season that affords us all an opportunity to take stock of our habits and attitudes, including our tendencies to shop our complaints and grumblings around, and to seek instead spiritual practices like silence, stillness and self-control that will reorient us toward the mind of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and on our lips. This is a moment in our common life when we can stop, repent and begin again, choosing what words we speak and listen to with great intention and care.

For REFLECTION:

Where does complaining show up in your communities? How can you choose or encourage a different approach?

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.