Matthew Fox traces the universal nature of Julian’s message of mystical hope and divine love:
Julian makes explicit on many occasions that she is speaking to a very broad audience—one that includes those of us who live 650 years later. It follows, then, that we recognize that sense of inclusion. “In God’s sight, all humanity is one person, and all people are a single humanity.”… [1] For Julian, the traditional teaching of the church as the mystical body of Christ is extended to the entire human race….
When she celebrates the beauty of being human, she again makes explicit that she is talking about all and not some sectarian group. “God made us so rich and noble in our essence that all we can do is strive to enact his will and honor him in all things. When I say ‘we,’ I mean all true spiritual seekers.” [2] When she says “all,” she means all. This would include, in our time, all versions of Christians and all Jews, all Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, Muslims, goddess worshippers, those of indigenous religions, and those of no religions, whether agnostic or atheist. That is how ecumenical she is—and in the fourteenth century, no less.
When speaking of retreating “into our own souls, which is where our Beloved dwells,” she again speaks out about the universality that encompasses our spiritual search: “Let no man or woman think this truth applies personally to the individual. It does not; it is universal. This beautiful human nature of ours was prepared for our precious Mother Christ.” [3]
Through contemplating her visions over many years, Julian recognized that God’s love wasn’t only for her but for all creation:
In explaining how she came to write her book, she confesses that she first saw [her visions] as a personal thing, but then she came to understand that they applied to humanity as a whole. “At first, I applied this teaching to my individual self, because at the time I was not moved to see it otherwise. But the great and gracious comfort that followed made me realize that God meant this insight for the whole of humanity.” [4] She learned that her work ought to reach a broad audience, “I made the mistake of privatizing this showing instead of taking it to mean loving my fellow Christians better. What could make me love my fellow Christians better than to see that God loves us all as we are all one soul?” [5] …
Such a sense of universality translates into action, for “those who have universal love for all their fellow Christians in God have love towards everything that exists. For in us all is comprehended all, that is, all that is created and the Creator of all.” [6] Creation and cosmos belong to everyone—and no one—and it calls us to a larger consciousness of expanded love.
References:
[1] Julian of Norwich, The Showings: Uncovering the Face of the Feminine in Revelations of Divine Love, trans. Mirabai Starr (Hampton Roads, 2022), 133. Selection from chap. 51.
[2] Julian, Showings, 157. Selection from chap. 57.
[3] Julian, Showings, 172. Selection from chap. 62.
[4] Julian, Showings, 212. Selection from chap. 79.
[5] Brendan Doyle, Meditations with Julian of Norwich (Bear & Co., 1983), 64.
[6] Doyle, Meditations, 33.
Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond (iUniverse: 2020), xxxii–xxxiii.
Image Credit and inspiration: Syuhei Inoue, untitled (detail), 2020, photo, Japan, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. The light streaming through the window represents Julian of Norwich’s quiet revelation; she is illuminated by a wisdom and strength she cannot contain or fully grasp—available to all of us, whether in peacetime or in crisis.
Story from Our Community:
I have been challenged to learn “to live in both worlds” by examining Julian of Norwich’s natural acceptance of God and Jesus as both Mother and Father. My inclusive journey seems so fraught with pain and disappointment as the majority of my Christian “family in the faith” view God as only male. Thank you for the invitation to learn to live in and accept both worlds. I deeply appreciate the steps Richard Rohr and the CAC have taken to be as inclusive as possible.
—Jenny S.
