The Many Names We Use for God

Human beings have always searched for language for what feels bigger than ourselves.

Across traditions and histories, we have reached for words to name what is beyond us and within us at the same time.

God.
The Divine.
Higher Power.
Source.
Love.
Spirit.
Christ.
Abba.
Light.
Wisdom.
Creator.
Father.
Mother.
Presence.

These words are not identical.

They carry different theologies, different histories, and different lived experiences. Some names for God feel like home. Others feel complicated. Some open us. Others close us.

Language matters.

And yet, every word we use for God is still only a word — an attempt to gesture toward something ultimately beyond language.

The Many Names for God and the Limits of Language

Within the Christian contemplative tradition, there is a long history of acknowledging that God exceeds our concepts.

We speak.
And we also fall silent.

We name.
And we also admit that our naming is partial.

No single name for God can contain the Holy.

This humility is important to me — especially in a world where language for God has sometimes been used in rigid or harmful ways.

I have seen certain names for God bring healing.
And I have seen those same names carry pain for others.

That complexity deserves care.

Following Your Language in Spiritual Direction

In spiritual direction, I follow your language.

If you say God, I say God.
If you say Divine, I say Divine.
If you say Higher Power, Love, Universe, or simply “something bigger than me,” I follow your words.

Not because all names mean the same thing.

But because your lived experience matters.

Spiritual direction is not about correcting your vocabulary. It is about paying attention to your relationship with what you are encountering as sacred.

For some, reclaiming the word “God” is deeply healing.

For others, that word carries too much history or hurt right now.

Both realities deserve respect.

Rooted in the Christian Contemplative Tradition

My own faith is rooted in the Christian contemplative tradition.

I pray to God.
I trust Christ.
I believe in the Holy Spirit.

That grounding shapes how I listen and how I hold space.

At the same time, I recognize that the Mystery we call God is not contained by my language alone.

Following your language does not mean abandoning my roots. It means holding them with humility.

It means remembering that every name for God is reaching toward something infinitely larger than our understanding.

There Is Room in the Spiritual Life

Wherever you find yourself — certain, questioning, rebuilding, wary, open — there is room.

There is room for the language that feels possible to you right now.

There is room to change names over time.

There is room to sit in silence when no word feels right.

Naming the Holy has always been a human attempt to speak toward mystery.

And sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is honor the language that feels true in this season — while remaining open to how it might unfold.

If you are longing for a space where your questions, language, and experience are welcomed without pressure or correction, spiritual direction offers that kind of listening. Learn more about 1:1 spiritual direction here.