Notes from a Sojourn
May 8, 2020
Divine Love
Today we celebrate and remember Julian of Norwich. She was born about 1342, and when she was thirty years old, she became gravely ill and expected to die. On the seventh day, the medical crisis passed, and she had a series of fifteen visions, or "shewings," in which she was led to contemplate the Passion of Christ. These brought her great peace and joy. She became an anchoress, living in a small hut near St. Julian's Church in Norwich, England, where she devoted the rest of her life to prayer and contemplation of the meaning of her visions. St. Julian wrote the results of her meditations in a book called Revelations of Divine Love. Her most well-known phrase that has brought comfort to many people in many generations, which is rooted in her belief that God is love and present with us, reads, "All shall be well, all shall be well, in all manner of things all shall be well."
Julian, by all accounts, is considered to be a mystic. The practice of mysticism goes all the way back to the early church fathers where many believe that God exists in all persons and all things and that God’s love can be found in all of creation. The mystics spend much time in prayer, meditation and contemplation to find and connect with God within themselves. Mystics believe God’s love will prevail in all circumstances and will transform people and the world.
God’s divine love was demonstrated through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus; our Christian faith is based this premise. That love is present, available and accessible for everyone to immerse themselves. One only needs to begin to see with different eyes the love and goodness that is in everything. Sometimes it is easier to see in nature and God’s creation there, and by finding God’s love in this realm, it becomes so much simpler to find that love in ALL those whom we encounter. This is no easy task as many are much harder to love and find love in them than others, but Jesus calls us to love everyone and to find his love in all of them. By tapping into God within our inner selves and learning how to love and accept ourselves as God did, we are able to better understand how to love and accept those around us. We need to find God’s Divine Love within us before we can ever fully comprehend how that love is exhibited in all creation around us.
“He that made all things for love, by the same love keepeth them, and shall keep them without end.”
-Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love: Chapter 8, c. 1395)
“What could make me love my fellow Christian better than to see that God loves us all as we were all one soul?”
-Julian of Norwich (Meditations with Julian of Norwich)
Mark Lewis
Pastoral Intern, St. Lawrence Parish
