Dear Good People of Trinity Church,
Julian of Norwich, a 14th-century mystic, is an iconic example of Christian mysticism's power and gift, transcending the confines of time and location. Hugh Hildesley writes in his book, Journeying with Julian, “It is my conviction that the reason Julian’s theology has recently acquired so much attention is that it speaks precisely to our time and that many of the pressures we face are remarkably similar to those … of the time and place in which Julian lived and wrote. Julian suggested the principal message and purpose which God has for us is love, a love that cannot be overcome by the powers of the world.” ¹
What, do you wish to know your Lord’s meeting in this thing? Know it well, love was his meaning. Who reveals it to you? Love. What did he reveal to you? Love. Why does he reveal it to you? For love.” ²
At the heart of Julian’s way of life is a desire for oneness with God, an ultimate and intimate connection with the Divine. She calls this oneing, “that all might be one as the Father and I are one.” (John 17:22) ³ Julian describes the oneness or spiritual marriage to be like “the rain falling from heaven into a river or stream, becoming one and the same liquid, so that the river and the rainwater cannot be divided; or it resembles a stream flowing into the ocean with cannot afterward be disunited from it.” ⁴
The church, she believes, plays an integral role in our quest for spiritual union with God. It may even be said that this is our “primary task…to enable broken human beings to be made whole in the love of God.” ⁵ This is at the core of the way of the Christian mystic, as Carl McColman writes, “What do Christian mystics tell us? That the wisdom they offer us can literally unite us with God – or at the very least, give us such a powerful experience of God’s presence that it can revolutionize our lives. The purpose of such transformed lives is not primarily to achieve a goal (like enlightenment or spiritual bliss) but rather to participate in the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity – embodying the flowing love of Christ, love that we, in turn, give back to God as well as to ‘our neighbors as ourselves.’” ⁶
May we open ourselves to true oneness with the Divine so that we may more fully live into our call to participate in the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity. Trusting always in God’s goodness and love that, All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.
Peace and Blessings,
The Rev. Paul Jeanes III, Rector
C. Hugh Hildesley, Journeying with Julian, p. 96
Hildesley, p. 96
Hildesley, p.163
Bernard McGinn, The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism, p. 457
Hildesley, p.163
Carl McColman, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, p.16