All shall be well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

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. 

She is known to have counselled some but spent much of her life in prayer and reading. Today she is remembered for a remarkable book that has found its way down the centuries. In fact Revelations of Divine Love is the earliest surviving book in English written by a woman.

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.