Agape | 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

The ABC’s of Spirituality

One day Abba Arsenius consulted an old Egyptian monk about his own thoughts someone noticed this and said to him, ‘Abba Arsenius, how is it that you with such a good Latin and Greek education, ask this peasant about your thoughts?’ He replied, ‘I have indeed been taught Latin and Greek, but I do not know even the alphabet of this peasant.’

—sayings of the desert

There are times in our lives when we are awe stuck with the simple holiness of individuals we encounter. All too many of us are wrapped up in the venture of making ourselves holy when we should practice the simple act of being holy. The Monk used the analogy of the alphabet to compare his knowledge to the (spiritual) knowledge of the peasant. Sometimes we miss the obvious because we are concentrating on the complicated. This is never truer than in our spiritual journeys. God did not make following Him a complicated task. That was man’s doing!

Today is the day to call ourselves to a simple form of prayer. The prayer that is just taking time to be with God. Let’s “put on hold” our quest of understanding all the mysteries of God and just spend some time with Him. Practice your spiritual ABC’s today.