By Kate Noonan
I have a mentor who is wise and kind. She is willing to listen to me kvetch and gently help me reframe whatever in this world is running me around. She reminds me to expect grace. At that suggestion I sometimes balk. In my mind I think, very loudly with an interior eye roll, expect grace, really? Can’t you see I expect results, I expect traffic or I expect disappointment.
Julian of Norwich was no stranger to life’s hardships. She was a Christian mystic known for the visions she received from God. She recorded these visions in her book: Revelations of Divine Love. Julian spent much of her life as an anchoress, a person walled off from society in medieval England during the time of the Black Plague. She is best known for the quote “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” She is also recognized as the first woman to write a book in English.
Julian heard the Divine revelation: all things shall be well after wrestling with God. She, being as human as the rest of us, had expectations and disappointments in life. It is commonly believed that while she was given these revelations she questioned the revelations, or showings as she called them. After all, she lived through two episodes of the Black Plague and in her own manner social distanced to survive while the city of Norwich’s population was reduced by a quarter. Could it be when she originally received these showings she did whatever version of the eye roll was in fashion in 14th century England? Yet Julian remained engaged and open to the messages God sent her. She spent 20 more years meditating on her visions eventually writing once again about the experience.
The Revelations Julian received are for all of us. We’re all immersed in God’s glorious world. Expecting grace and knowing all manner of things shall be well is not only about my attitude in life rather it is a profound insight that I have faith in God’s commitment. This personal insight is an acknowledgment and understanding of God’ s faithfulness to God’s people. It is God who is always present, it is God who is always providing. I am called to see the where and how of God’s actions in my life. God’s ways are not my ways. My perception often gets caught in the muck of life run by egoic thinking.
Armed with a glimpse into God’s unfailing commitment we must recall we are one of many. If we expect grace then no one is exempt from the unmitigated grace of God. Therefore we are called to wish grace upon all of our fellow people. We must wish the best and highest good for all, our friends, our neighbors, those who are different from us and our enemies. Truly we are all called to serve as the channel of God’s grace acting as a vessel or instrument through which God’s love, mercy, and blessings are conveyed to others.
