Sr. Doreen, SSJD
Joy is a grateful optimism that, as Julian of Norwich said, “All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.”
We look out on a world where all does not seem to be well – far from it, in fact. Personally, I have found the wars and civil strife in so many parts of the world, the global crisis caused by the President of the United States, the devastation from natural disasters, and the continuing food insecurity and homelessness to be heartbreaking. Time and again, throughout the course of each day, I find myself turning to God and asking, “What can I do?” I feel powerless in the wake of so much tragedy.
What was so astonishing and so moving in Julian’s sharing of her revelations was this refrain that was repeated three times: ‘all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well’. In my own feeling of powerlessness, what a powerful mantra she presents! And what an extraordinary exclamation of faith, to stand before a world, her world, that seemed to be falling apart (the plague, civil unrest, economic crisis) and proclaim that all shall be well because God in her revelations said so! Her world and our world seem not so different!
When we ponder Julian’s revelations, we are reminded that in the mystery of God, it is so that all shall be well – indeed we can believe God’s promise to us “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11). God takes a long view of history, sees past the present to a future, a cosmic evolutionary becoming, one that we are encouraged to partner with God in building, that ‘I am making all things new’ future, that call to a world where “mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Psalm 85:10). My own gift from Julian is her gift to us all – the gift of joy. In the midst of whatever circumstances we find ourselves, she calls us to wake up to the beauty and love that oozes out of every moment in all of creation. Joy – that ability to see, to stay in alignment with, and celebrate what God is doing in the world and how God’s kingdom is moving forward, even in less-than-ideal circumstances. It is a powerful mantra that she gifts to us. This is God’s world and God has never relinquished ownership of it!
And we are a part of this plan. You and I are like a small brush stroke in the greater masterpiece that God is painting throughout time and space. We are invited into the vision, even though at times it might seem like the vision is obscured, and we are invited to stand at what often seems like a cliff of calamity and say, with conviction, that all shall be well because God says so.
There are so many examples in scripture and in the lives of people who have gone before us and those who live amongst us today that have been or are now pillars of faith, models of visionary leadership.
Consider Abraham, that pillar of faith. In his letter to the Romans, Paul lifts Abraham as the model of visionary leadership. When all was not well, Abraham believed that God would fulfill his promise and make Abraham the father of many nations, and it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. Paul says that: “when everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.” (Romans 4:18) Paul goes on to say “Abraham didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what God has said. … But in scripture it’s not just about Abraham; it’s also about us! The same things get said about us when we embrace and believe God ….” (Message translation)
That mantra of Julian’s – all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well – I know I need to keep it very close at hand, and I need to take it out and use it over and over again in all the different seasons of my life and circumstances.! Therein lies the joy – that blend of happiness and sorrow, that balance of ‘we have such a long way to go but look at how far we have come’.
We are part of the plan, God invites us to plant the seeds of this new heaven and new earth vision, in whatever small or big way we can, so that one day, who knows how far ahead, future generations might benefit from it. In that way, we help ensure that all will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of thing will be well.
God wishes us to know we are kept safe all the time, in joy and in sorrow, that we are loved as much in sorrow as in joy, perhaps even more in sorrow!
I share a hymn meditation with you from Common Praise, Anglican Church of Canada #468
To Abraham and Sarah, the call of God was clear: “Go forth and I will show you a country rich and fair. You need not fear the journey, for I have pledged my word that you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
From Abraham and Sarah arose a pilgrim race, dependent for their journey on God’s abundant grace; And in their heart was written by God this saving word, “that you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
We of this generation whom God’s hand is laid can journey to the future secure and unafraid, Rejoicing in God’s goodness and trusting in this word, “that you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
