How was your Christmas? Myrtle and I were amongst the many thousands who had a Covid Christmas. We enjoyed the well-known symptoms of a sore throat, a heavy cold, headaches, loss of appetite etc. It wasn’t life-threatening but it wasn’t pleasant either.
As I was lying in bed feeling sorry for myself, Julian of Norwich came to mind ( as you would expect!). In case you’re not familiar with Julian, she was a 14th Century Christian mystic, whose book The Revelations of Divine Love made her the first female writer in the English language.
When she was 30 Julian fell gravely ill, and had a vision of God’s love for her. She saw in her hand a small ball, about the size of a hazelnut.
” But what did I see in it?” she asked. “It is that God is the Creator and the protector and the lover. For until I am substantially united to him, I can never have perfect rest or true happiness, until, that is, I am so attached to him that there can be no created thing between my God and me”.
So back to Covid at Christmas and my sleepless nights being bravely ill (or so I like to think). Any experience of suffering is transformed by Julian’s vision: God created me: God preserves me; God loves me.
Some may think that an illness casts doubt on this vision, but remember Julian was at death’s door, being given the Last Rites, when she had this revelation. There is always an element of mystery to suffering (Job never understood his great losses and pain remember) but the presence of suffering does not equate to the absence of God: quite the opposite.
So as we enter a new year, we have no idea what lies ahead. But we do know that we will experience it all in the hands of a God who created us: who preserves us, and who loves us. May a deep knowledge of these three truths burn themselves into your spirit this year, and may we all long “to be so attached to him that there can be no created thing between my God and me”.
(By the way, in case you’re worried about her, Julian had a vision of Jesus, was miraculously healed and went on to enjoy a long life!)