Activism | A Pastor's Thoughts

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October 12, 2016 · 9:00 am

My Take on Julian of Norwich

In our world of narrowing down what God does or who he loves, I share with you some of my observations from Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love.

God still does miracles. He intervenes actively in our lives. These are usually preceded by very rough times.
God cannot be manipulated by prayer. Asking the intercession of saints, and trying to make prayer more effective by citing arguments or mentioning special things or events, are not helpful. Prayer is effective when it is the result of God wanting a person to receive something, and putting the content of the prayer into the person’s mind. Julian seems well-aware that this sounds as problematic as all other accounts of the power of prayer.
God still issues calls to individuals. Apparently He does not call the “beautiful people”, whose lives and abilities seem perfect, for special assignments. Instead, he chooses the obviously flawed individuals, people who get ridiculed for some reason by others through no fault of their own.
Christ reveals Himself to living persons. When He does, He is always a warm, intimate, and “courteous” friend. This increases their faith tremendously, and they in turn are called to share this revelation with others. Julian was one such person, and she expressed the hope that people would not consider her a celebrity or focus on her, but on Christ.
The Jewish people will be saved. Julian asked about the good Jewish people and whether they would be saved. It is clear that she was told “Yes”, because right after she mentions this, she adds a few paragraphs saying how she was sure that nothing in the revelation contradicted anything she’d been taught in church

Prayer

Lord give us hearts of inclusiveness that allow us to live with people as you love them. The world seeks to splinter and divide your creation and we know that you came to bring us together and show us a better way.

You want all who are called to serve you.

You offer miracles of grace and healing to those who seek them.

Lets us open our eyes and just see.

Amen

“And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazel nut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, ‘What may this be?’ And it was answered generally thus, ‘It is all that is made.’ I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God.

In this little thing I saw three properties.

The first is that God made it.

The second that God loves it.

And the third, that God keeps it.”

—–Julian of Norwich

Living Contemplatives

If we want to live as Monks, we must try to understand what the monastic life really is. We must try reach the springs from which that life flows. We must have some notion of our spiritual roots, that we may better able to sink them deep into the soil.

—-Thomas Merton

These are the opening words to Thomas Merton’s Introduction to Monastic Spiritually. Though the book was written for young men who were entering into a monastic vocation, it speaks to all of us who seek to live as contemplatives where we are planted. Merton points out three very important directions that all contemplative seekers must follow:

He urges us to reach the springs from which such a life flows. There is not one among us who does not have a deep driving desire to discover the “God spring” that is at our grasp. God promises never to leave or forsake us and I believe He means it. Therefore, I will continue to have an outstretched hand toward that goal.
We are called to discover our spiritual roots. Merton seems to imply that the key to this discovery is in the search. As we search and find our spring we realize we are created in the image and likeness of God, and we were created with great promise and gifted by God with the ability to live a productive, God honoring life.
Growth is then attained by sinking our roots deeply into our spiritual soil. Our roots are continually watered by the spring from which our life flows. The depth of the roots of any tree determines its ability to stand against the wind. So with us, we must be able to withstand the winds of adversity that come our way in the Christian journey.

These three steps propel us in our journeys to, and with, God. The spring waters and the roots grow in their depth and breath. The result is that we are living contemplatives that seek the face of God.