I was sitting with colleagues having an evening out in London and I quoted Julian of Norwich. Who would have thought that a woman born in 1342 would be one of the most popular people of history quoted in present day. Julian of Norwich is a woman who spent most of her life literally entombed in her church-side cell.
Julian was an anchoress, a woman who chose to withdraw from the secular world to live an ascetic life, dedicated to prayer. She lived as a hermit, and vowed to stay in one place, her cell attached to a church. Her writings came out of her contemplation and are known for being infused with joy and hope.
She lived in very unstable times, the Black Plague killed 50% of Europe’s population, the Hundred Years’ War killed even more and the economy was in depression with labour strikes and riots. With many voices blaming the plague on people’s sins and others encouraging the rise of hate for those who were seen as different in order to create personal shame and guilt, by contrast Julian’s visionary voice was deeply grounded in her intimacy with God.
As we are often reminded history repeats itself and we can see the instability of our times. We too are surrounded by many voices that stir up hate of others, where people are often intent to point fingers and condemn and cover others in shame.
We may not all retreat to a cell, but we can be reminded and inspired like Julian. We cannot rely on fixing every problem but she invites us to rest and centre ourselves in the intimacy with God who is the beginning and the end, the source of our joy and hope.
'All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well' ~Julian of Norwich
Amen
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