All Shall Be Well – May 8, 2024
Today’s Readings:
Julian of Norwich: Psalm 27:1-9; Hebrews 10:19-24; John 4:21-26
Eve of Ascension Day: Psalm 68:1-20; 2 Kings 2:1-15; Rev. 5:1-14
It is hard to see God in the middle of really hard things. Especially the hard things that human hands continue to muddle and amplify. Disappointment and disaffection mount. There are hostilities and acrimonious exchanges. Trust is broken. What was before is gone. It is hard to see a path forward where peace is possible.
Perhaps as you read these words, you think about events on the world stage: conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Hamas. Perhaps there are issues within our nation that come to mind: demonstrations and counterdemonstrations at universities, the former president in court on trial. Or maybe you think about something closer to your own home…violence in your neighborhood, your kids facing something upending and scary, or a relationship in turmoil.
None of this is easy. Some of it we talk about. Some of it we hide away. And many times, my hope is that these things resolve in an easy, quick, and peaceful way, so that stability returns in the way that brings greater understanding and connection. Perhaps this is a Pollyanna-inspired wish. It is also a longing for God’s love to overwhelm all spaces in our world that are rife with pain, so that the healing presence of the Divine brings joy into fullness. Yet the change does not happen all at once, as far as I can tell.
It is sometimes helpful for me to sit in consultation with a spiritual director to contemplate the hard things of life, and where I stand. And discern where God is. Perhaps you have done this, too. One piece of wisdom I gleaned at the CREDO retreat in New Hampshire a couple of weeks ago came from wonderings someone offered: “What if prayer is less about a time for us to talk to God about all that is on our hearts, and more about an invitation for us to be still and receive from God all that we need in that moment?”
There are many hard questions upon us. They can keep us up at night. They can fuel intrusive thoughts of worry and angst. They can cast a pall upon our fullness of life. Some of those questions we can add our hands to the mix in finding solutions. Others we can take to God in prayer. There are others, too, we can look to as guides for inspiration.
One is Dame Julian of Norwich, who we remember each May 8th and who lived in the 14th century. After a medical emergency and near-death experience in her early teens, she experienced visions of Jesus the Christ. She recovered and lived the life of a contemplative. She offered counsel and spiritual advice to those in need of guidance. And she wrote extensively on the holy visions she experienced, and her book Revelations of Divine Love is available.
One of Dame Julian’s most repeated words of wisdom is derived from this story: “A matter that greatly troubled her was the fate of those who through no fault of their own had never heard the Gospel. She never received a direct answer to her questions about them, except to be told that whatever God does is done in Love, and therefore ‘that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.’”
It is a larger hope that Julian voiced, for she maintained that all that God does is done in love – and that this redeeming love is always at play. May you feel the healing grace of Divine love in your life today. I invite you to join me in praying for all who are yearning for peace in time of conflict:
O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, page 824))
In resurrection hope,
Katherine+
Reflection and Challenge
Reframe how you pray today. Sit and invite the Holy Spirit to fill and feed you as the Divine knows your needs.