October 2009
“All is well and all shall be well,
and all manner of things shall be well.”
Julian of Norwich, 1342 – 1416, experienced during her childhood and early adulthood a world scarred by famine, wide spread poverty, wars, and the black plague that killed over 1/3 of the population. She, too, became critically ill, and the church had administered her The Last Rites when she received a series of intense visions from God that she recorded as the Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love. She has been rediscovered for our generation by almost all contemporary theologians who frequently reference her revelations.
Why are so many today attracted to her writings? Possibly they are attracted to her because Julian’s theology was optimistic, positive, hope-filled, and authentic. They are clear signs of her spiritual wellness, wholeness, and holiness. It was also her intense desire to end all things well. She wanted to end all conversations, including her daily conversations with God, well. She even wrote of desiring to sleep well in order to have another day to give thanks to God for all that God had given to her. Just before she died, it was said that she was filled with joy because she had been preparing herself to die well – with dignity and filled with the hope of the resurrection.
I was first attracted to Julian’s theology in seminary and became an Oblate of the Order of Julian of Norwich. Her hope for her generation is the hope I believed in then and I believe in my soul today. It is the very hope Christ calls us to experience when we look out at the world and may be tempted to despair when we listen to the wrong voices who preach to us that there just isn’t enough stuff to go around. But, when we pause and turn off the angry voices of our age, we can still hear God’s voice telling us all is well and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
In the church this is the season of stewardship and a time of confronting the truth that we are in our own ways living abundant lives and are called as part of our wholeness to give back to God a portion of abundance in thanksgiving for all we have received. A significant component in living well, whole, and authentic lives with Jesus Christ is our ability to give generously to the church our money and that other precious commodity, our time. Each night I desire to go to bed knowing in my soul that I have lived that day with God’s help as authentically as I can, and have given back to God through St. Theodore’s a portion of my time and my money. When I can do that, I know that my day ended well.
Brenda and I use as a starting place in the stewardship of money a tithe – 10% of our joint incomes to St. Theodore’s. We then write checks to other charities. We give joyfully without strings attached as our response to God’s unconditional and abundant love. We know all will be well. Join us in making a pledge to our church and our church will be well. We are good people with many good and exciting ministries God has challenged us to do together, and our response depends on your response to the challenge to live an abundant life day by day. Join me in making a pledge to St. Theodore’s and all will be well.
Fr. Ken †
