Julian of Norwich was a 14th
century mystic. She faced death at the early age of 30 (supposed to be the
Black Death) and survived. Having been given her last rites and not being able
to move more than her eyelids, she had resigned herself to God's grace.
Having recovered, the effect of
the near-death experience was so profound that she dedicated the rest of her
life to God, becoming something of a recluse, living in a room adjoining the church
of St Justin in Norwich. This is widely supposed to be where she took her
adopted name.
It is from that book that we have
the quotation for this blog: All shall be
well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
There is such contentment there,
such assurance. Julian knows her God, the very One that gave her life from
death. The One who gave her a number of visions on her near-deathbed, mainly to
do with the cross.
And then we have a lovely piece
from her book (I only found this the other day thanks to the Lectio365
studies):
Lord let not our souls be busy inns that have no room for thee or
thine, but quiet homes of prayer and praise where thou mayest find fit company.
Where the needful cares of life are wisely ordered and put away. And wide,
sweet spaces kept for thee; where holy thoughts pass up and down, and fervent
longings watch and wait thy coming.
Thankfully we don’t have to live
all of our lives in a closed off room to understand what is said here. It’s for
all of us. We can all keep wide, sweet spaces for God. We can all create a
quiet place of prayer, rather than be a busy inn with no room.
And as we do, we too will
appreciate that with Christ, All shall be
well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
