Days of Ascension and Cloister

Today is the feast day of Julian of Norwich, a female mystic, one of the earliest female writers in British literature.  As a 14th century anchoress, she lived in a small cell attached to a cathedral, in almost complete isolation, spending her time in contemplation. She had a series of visions, which she spent her life elaborating upon. She is likely the first woman to write a book-length work in English.

It is also Ascension Day, the day that many Christians celebrate as the day that post-Easter Jesus is taken up into Heaven.  It's not Pentecost yet, so the followers still don't have the sense of mission that they will exhibit later.

These stories remind us that there are many ways to be true to one's purpose, many ways to serve, many ways to be a witness.  Julian of Norwich took the world in a direction it hadn't been before. She's one of our first known female theologians written in English, and because she did it, others coming afterwards would take their own visions and their words seriously too--as did other people.

And yet, she didn't set out to change the world. I comfort myself by reminding myself that Julian of Norwich would be astonished if she came back today and saw the importance that people like me have accorded her. She likely had no idea that her writings would survive. She was certainly not writing and saying, "I will be one of the earliest female writers in English history. I will depict a feminine face of God. I will create a theology that will still be important centuries after I'm dead."

I imagine that most of those early disciples also did not realize how much they were changing the world and how astonished they would be to return to our modern Christianity.  They thought they were solving problems within their communities and their home faiths.  At least at first, they weren't looking to transform themselves into a group called Christians.

These days, I often repeat Julian of Norwich’s most famous quote: “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” Would Julian of Norwich be pleased that so many of us derive comfort by repeating those words? Or would she shake her head and be annoyed that we have missed what she considered to be the most important ideas?

I remind myself that she would have such a different outlook than I do. She was a medieval woman who served God; she likely would not even view her ideas as her own, but as visitations from the Divine. If I could adopt more of that kind of attitude, it could serve me well on some of my more stressful days when divesting could be the most helpful thing that I could do.

In these days, divesting ourselves of our plans/expectations for the future, of our need to be sure of the future, of our worries and fears, would be helpful for many of us. Let us repeat the words of Julian of Norwich, even if we don't believe them:

“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”