All Will Be Well
Julian of Norwich lived in England in the 14
th
century. The Black Death had reduced the population of the country by a half and Julian became sick after the 3
rd
outbreak of the plague. One night whilst ill, she received 16 revelations of the love of God which she called “showings of the Passion of Christ.” Miraculously Julian recovered and gave her life to God by the solitary vocation of an anchoress. In effect, she was a hermit who devoted herself to prayer, contemplation and reading scripture.
She lived in a small room built into the wall of a church from where she could see the altar. Her food was delivered to her at her window, often in repayment for counselling.
Does any of this very brief history remind you of anything that we are experiencing today? Shut in away from family and friends, food being delivered, seeing the St Martin's altar through the small window of a computer.
Trying to find calm, quiet and focus in a chaotic world.
With a world in flux, we seek answers to our questions just as Julian did in the 14
th
century. And to find answers for ourselves, we pray, we meditate, we listen, and we nourish our heart, mind, soul and body while waiting for the day that we can again celebrate sharing bread together.
There are many lessons we can learn from Julian. She received deep insight into God’s sufferings and love for us through her reading of Scripture. She knew God to be a God who enfolds us in love. One of the most famous quotes attributed to Julian of Norwich is “
All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
” Not because things are easy, but because she hoped in a loving God. May we not only learn from her example, but come to know the power of God’s love as richly and deeply as she knew it to be.
The Rev. Gill Keyworth
Deacon
