Julian: My Sister, My Teacher

I have been reading a lot of medieval mystic spiritual literature lately. And I have found it to be fascinating. The depth of spirituality that is so often expressed in literature from that time period is amazing and refreshing. They thought so differently than I do it is almost like we are speaking two different languages about the same God. But, like all such experiences, this encounter with another worldview has been a stretching exercise for me. And I know God is still speaking through these men and women.

Here are a few quotes from Julian of Norwich** that I have found especially thought- provoking. She was a mystic hermit who lived most of her life in a small room, not unlike a cell, giving spiritual guidance through a window to people in Norwich (then a major urban center in England) during the 14^th and 15^th centuries CE. Both her life and writings are extremely theologically rich. I will keep my commentary to a minimum on these in hopes that they will impact you as they did me. One word of advice, though…go slowly. This needs to be chewed.

On the presence of God:
A man walks upright, and the food in his body is shut in as if in a well-made purse. When the time of his necessity comes, the purse is opened and then shut again, in most seemly fashion. And it is God who does this, and it is shown when he says that he comes down to us in our humblest needs. (186)

And therefore the blessed Trinity is always wholly pleased with all its works; and God revealed all this most blessedly, as though to say: See, I am God. See, I am in all things. See, I do all things. See, I never remove my hands from my works, nor ever shall without end. See, I guide all things to the end that I ordain them for, before time began, with the same power and wisdom and love with which I made them; how should anything be amiss? (199)

On the Passion—or is it tithing?:
All the Trinity worked in Christ’s Passion, administering abundant virtues and plentiful grace to us by him; but only the virgin’s Son suffered, in which all the blessed Trinity rejoice. And this was shown to me when he said: Are you well satisfied? And by what Christ next said: If you are well satisfied, I am well satisfied; it was as if he had said: This is joy and delight enough for me, and I ask nothing else from you for my labour but that I may satisfy you.

And in this he brought to my mind the qualities of a cheerful giver. Always a cheerful giver pays only little attention to the thing which he is giving, but all his desire and all his intention is to please and comfort the one to whom he is giving it. And if the receiver accept the gift gladly and gratefully, then the courteous giver counts as nothing all his expense and labour, because of the joy and the delight that he has because he has pleased and comforted the one whom he loves. Generously and completely was this revealed to me. (219-20)

Toward a theology of prayer:
Prayer unites the soul to God, for though the soul may always be like God in nature and substance restored by grace, it is often unlike him in condition, through sin on man’s part. Then prayer is a witness that the soul wills as God wills, and it eases the conscience and fits man for grace. And so he teaches us to pray and to have firm trust that we shall have it; for he beholds us in love, and wants to make us partners in his good will and work. And so he moves us to pray for what it pleases him to do, and for this prayer and good desire which come to us by his gift he will repay us, and give us eternal reward. And this was revealed to me when he said: If you beseech it. (253)

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I hope that you read this with the depth that it calls for. It can be a bit distracting. The first quote about God causing bowel movements was admittedly a little strange for me at first, too! But it is so crucial that we see that she is really not talking about bodily functions. She is talking about God’s presence—even in the most mundane of things. The extraordinary lives in the ordinary.

Or how about the play with the wording of 2 Corinthians 9 with reference to the Passion? I thought that verse was about the offering! I hear it all the time in church, but never like she is presenting it here. I thought her interpretation brilliant.

And how often do I sit back and engage my own prayer life in order to see what is really going on? I wonder what kinds of changes I’d make in my prayer life if I really saw it as being a process of growing closer to God.

I hope you found all this as interesting as I did. I know this is not something you hear everyday. So what do you think? Agree? Disagree?

My best.

**All subsequent Julian quotes are taken from her Showings (New York: Paulist Press, 1978).