All Manner of Thing Shall Be Well

I often wondered why by the great foreseeing wisdom of God the beginning of sin was not prevented...."It was necessary that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

- Julian of Norwich

My mind is pondering many things.
A book-ful of things.
This book has been melding into my soul in the best of ways.

Reading Julian of Norwich is opening my heart to new (very old) insights that cause me to pause and wonder. Why had I not mused on that before?

Julian, in fact, had some divine revelations when she was very ill almost to death, which is what she writes about in this book. She details all the visions she had, with sheer joy and encouragement. Her life was lived in solitude and devotion. My life certainly isn't so focused on God, as hers was. I am not always in solitude, nor in total devotion. Life gets in the way, distractions, work, people.

Even while I am one who prefers so much quiet time, solo time, I do not get to fit in as much as I would like. And it's not always spent in a devotional time. Whenever any of us has a spare moment, the world says - don't you want to shop, nap, work more, or watch television? 

When Jesus said to some people to leave everything and follow Him, it says a lot about how difficult it is to focus meaningfully on God while living in the "normal" cultural life where all time is spent in distraction from distraction by distraction (to borrow from T.S. Eliot, who borrowed often from Julian). 

I suspect Jesus is making a point that it's not easy to follow Him, it never will be. It requires a lot of us, which means we have to put other things behind God. Everything else, in fact. Yes, everything.

Julian's "shewings" are passages of beauty. Her imagery, her depth, her simplicity. I will reach for this book often, for comfort, reminders, and encouragement to be more intentional in my time with God. To aim for that devoted time of quiet and solitude with God. Jesus needed quiet time away from others, so do we.

We cannot all be 13th century mystics tucked away in solitude, but we can incorporate pieces of the wisdom and daily times of quiet to ponder the wonders of God.

For like as the blessed Trinity made all things out of naught, right so the same blessed Trinity shall make well all that is not well.
- Julian of Norwich