"The World's Darkness, God's Love & Julian of Norwich" (updated 8/5/26)

Ps. 116:5, NIRV 

    Recently teens in our area were foiled in a credible plot to carry out a mass shooting at a nearby high school.  Why would teens (who feel slighted or filled with angry despair) choose this?--the darkest possible action against their peers.  Why are such incidents increasing in number?  Isn’t the world already dark enough?--with terrorist attacks, desperate refugees, pandemic scares, etc.  The list could go on and on.  (Indeed, in 2021 the list did go on: Oxford, MI where 4 students died in a school shooting--and 7 were wounded--is a short 20 miles from our home.)

     How often the world’s darkness hides God’s Tender Loving Care (TLC) described, for example, in Psalm 25, which speaks clearly of God’s TLC in the form of “tender mercies,” “lovingkindness,” and care throughout (ASV, NKJV, WEB).

     Julian of Norwich, who has given us a great spiritual classic, lived 

during an especially dark time in history.  Several cycles of the Black 

Plague had swept across her native England (14^th c.); there was 

no way of knowing if or when it might return again.  At the same time, 

war between England and France was a constant, and famine knocked 

upon England’s door, as well.  

     In this atmosphere, Julian experienced her own personal darkness: an illness that carried her to death’s door—or perhaps beyond (?).  Julian went through what we might today call a near death experience.  What Julian saw repeatedly in that other-worldly experience was an astonishing account of the love of God—including an especially tender encounter with Jesus.  (Today Julian is revered with a feast day in Episcopalian, Catholic, and some Lutheran churches: a witness to the respect that is given to her spiritual classic Revelations of Divine Love, which is built upon what Julian saw and learned in this experience.)

     It was as if in this experience Julian saw beyond all the darkness that would ever be possible in this world and saw that this darkness could never outweigh the greatness and tenderness of God’s abiding love for us.  Julian’s experience reminds us of words from the Gospel of John, which speak of the revelation Jesus brought to us: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” or “The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out” (Jn. 1:5, NIV and the Message paraphrase).

     Pope Francis speaks of being in “awe” or “a bit . . . out of ourselves” (and rightfully so!) when we experience something of the greatness of the love or joy of God.^[1]  Julian was certainly beside herself--or almost out of herself--as she was filled with visions of God’s love in her near death experience.  She says: “And full greatly was I a stonned [stunned] for wonder and marvayle [marvel]” at the “ghostly sight of his homely lovyng [‘intimate love’].”^[2]  (Note: Julian wrote in Middle English; the preceding  translation retains some of that original English.  Also, of importance is the fact that Julian is the very first woman to write in English—that is, in writings that have been preserved for us.)   

     It is almost as if Julian cannot find enough ways to speak about the 

love of God.  And yet, she does find ways--artful ways--to tell us of 

it . . . again and again.  In our personal estimation--outside of the 

Bible--almost no one has been able to speak quite as beautifully, 

poetically, and assuredly of God’s love as Julian does in her great 

spiritual classic.

     In her many assurances it is as if Julian holds out a great, comforting, sheltering blanket, wraps it around us with the utmost tenderness, and says: I do this in the name of God.  This is how much God loves you—this is God’s TLC for you. In this she encircles and enfolds us with love in a similar fashion to that in which the author of Psalm 23 encircles us with God’s Shepherding love and care. 

     In regard to our metaphor of Julian’s comforting, sheltering blanket, note that the Holy Spirit is often called the Comforter in the Gospel of John (e.g., Jn. 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7 in many translations).  The modern term “comforter” for a sheltering blanket could, indeed, be an appropriate metaphor (a metaphor that could be helpful in meditation) for God’s tender love as expressed by Julian.

     Regarding such comforting love, note these thoughts from Julian: 

“[O]ur Lord showed me a spiritual sight of his familiar love.  I saw that he is to us everything which is good and comforting for our help.  He . . . is that love which wraps and enfolds us, embraces us and guides us, surrounds us for his love, which is so tender that he may never desert us.”  Or again, she says, “[S]o are we, soul and body, clad and enclosed in the [secret of the] goodness of God.”^[3]    

     And why should this be so?  “For He beholdeth us so tenderly . . . ,” Julian says.  She also wishes us to know that “our courteous Lord willeth that we should be as homely [intimately comfortable] with Him as heart may think or soul may desire.”^[4]  

     Julian speaks of God revealing divine secrets to us.  She knows that sometimes it will look like there is darkness all around us.  Yet in and through it all there is the hidden secret of God’s healing, uplifting love which God wishes to reveal: “. . . He has great tenderness, and therefore He will Himself make them [divine ‘secrets’] more open to us whereby we may know Him and love Him and cleave to Him.”^[5]  

     And what is the center of God’s greatest secret?  “For our soul is so specially loved of Him that is highest [God], that it overpasseth [or ‘surpasses’] the knowing of all creatures. . . .”  Continuing, Julian says:

That is to say, there is no created being who can [fully] know how much and how sweetly and how tenderly the Creator loves us.  And therefore we can with his grace and his help persevere in spiritual contemplation [or "stand in spiritual beholding"], with endless wonder at this high, surpassing, immeasurable love which our Lord in his goodness has for us….^[6]  

     However, Julian also knows that hearing about this is one thing, but having some inner sense, some experience of this, is another.  This is, indeed, another part of the secret: that God “will Himself make them [divine ‘secrets’] more open to us whereby we may know Him. . . .”  This inner sense about a divine secret is part of the Holy Spirit’s comforting--often called “spiritual consolation.”  We quoted Pope Francis above saying that sometimes one feels “awe” as a “consolation.”  Sensing God’s love is another form of “consolation.”  Pope Francis says, “Being Christian is being spiritually consoled.”  He also says we should ask for this gift: “Lord, give me this grace that is the sign of our encounter with you: spiritual consolation. . . .”^[7]   

     Julian would also encourage us to ask for the gift of knowing this great divine secret: how much we are loved.   She sees that God wishes us to have a sense of this knowing and to be spiritually lifted and consoled by this intimate secret, which is the beginning of everything else in the spiritual life--including our love and care for others.  (“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”; Mt. 7:7.)

     At the same time, Julian is concerned about us: she knows that it is human nature to succumb at times to “doubtful fear.”  She tells us that

God wants to have doubtful fear, inasmuch as it induces to despair, turned in us into love by true knowledge of [God’s abiding] love, that is to say that the bitterness of doubt be turned into the sweetness of gentle love by grace, for it can never please our Lord that his servants [and children] doubt in his goodness.^[8]

This again is a secret God wishes us to know in spite of whatever worldly darkness we may see or experience.

     Speaking of God’s consoling work on our behalf, Julian says that 

God’s “Mercy is a sweet gracious working in love, mingled with 

plenteous pity [compassion]: for mercy worketh in keeping us, and 

mercy worketh turning to us all things to good [cf. Rom. 8:28].”  

     Furthermore, Julian says: “For . . . I saw a marvellous compassion 

that our Lord hath in us for [or during] our woe ...”^[9]  And this is true 

because in all, “[O]ur Lord showed me spiritually [part of Julian’s 

revelatory experience] how intimately he loves us.”^[10]

     And so we will find that if we seek and allow it, again and again, the Comforter will be at work in our souls.  Julian promises: “[T]enderly our Lord God toucheth us and blissfully calleth us, saying in our soul: Let be all thy love, my dearworthy child: turn thee to me—I am enough to [or for] thee . . .”  And this is all because of the overwhelming love of our “courteous Lord.”^[11]  And why should all this love for us be assured?  “For we [God’s children] are His joy and His delight, and He is our salve [healing] and our life.”^[12]

     “But I have trusted in [Y]our faithful love,” Psalm 13 declares (v. 5, CEB).  Julian wishes us all to know the comfort, joy, “consolation,” “awe,” and empowerment of being able to make this confession.

     Meanwhile, God makes corresponding promises: “I will be present for you, declares the Lord ...”  And, “I have loved you with a love that lasts forever.  And so with unfailing love, I have drawn you to myself”; Jer. 29:14, 31:3, CEB.

     “The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out” (Jn. 1:5, CEV).  In the Advent and Christian seasons, to which we turn shortly, we welcome the "Incarnation": the intimate coming of the Love and Light of Jesus into the world.  See further discussion in our next post, coming in December.

    (We add a postscript to the above discussion--in regard to one other way in which Julian helps to enlighten us, even balance us.  Julian sees a radiant, resurrected Christ in glory [Chap. 51].  This rounds out her revelation and is consistent with the revelatory experience of other old saints down the ages.  In such experiences it seems as if the Holy Spirit wishes to put a stamp of approval upon the beauty of the original revelation received in the gospel stories.  As said in our last post, the general Western mindset has a tendency to get trapped in the top-story of consciousness where "rationalistic materialism" holds sway.  But the Holy Spirit is not interested in our top-story thinking.  Through figures like Julian, it seems that the Holy Spirit puts this stamp of approval on the wonder of the gospel revelation that has stood the test of time.  In upcoming posts we will  

see that this happens even in modern times.  This will be  

seen in the experiences of Simone Weil [2/29/16 blog post]  

and Joy Davidman Lewis, wife of the well known C. S. Lewis 

[8/30/17 blog post].) 

    Note that Julian is venerated today with a feast day in Anglican, Catholic, and

some Lutheran churches.  Evelyn Underhill, who studied old saints like Julian

for much of her life, once said that Julian is one of the safest guides to the

deepening spiritual life.  And Pope Benedict XVI commented that Julian, with

her profound gifts, has "become a [spiritual] mother to many" (12/1/10, General Audience).

* * *

We close with thoughts for meditation (to encourage

the sincere, childlike heart within that Julian so often

recommends [note Lk. 18:17] ):

Meditating upon promises of the "Maker … the Keeper … the Lover," as Julian interprets them:

(Also with reflection on Isa. 40:11, Lk. 15, Duet. 33:27, NIV

and Julian's famous assurance [quoted].[13]  Also note Julian’s word 

“cleave” (cleave to or cling to God).  This is one of Julian’s favorite 

words and her answer to so many of our problems.[14])

 ❆ ✼ ❃  

Meditation upon some of Julian of Norwich's favorite

LOVE names for God:[15]

   (I often meditate upon the LOVE names that follow to help me when

settling into a QUIET TIME with God.  If my heart won’t readily settle,

I say each of these names slowly [Julian's names for God's various ways

of LOVE] to remind myself of Such Love.  Later I may move into

Psalm 23 or the Lord’s Prayer or Psalm 25, etc. [in Ps. 25 I especially

note God's Tender Loving Care[16]).

  (In regard to such love names, note that a bit enigmatically--using

the greatest illustration of love that she knew--Julian says that with

"his loving embrace and his gracious touch"... "He [‘Jesus …

All-love’] useth the condition [or 'office'] of a wise Mother"--"a

courteous … gracious … beloved Mother"--and also the "office of

the kind nurse that hath nought to do but to give heed" … "to the

safety of her child"-- offering "these gracious words: I keep thee

full surely."[17]  Similarly, note Lk. 13:34, Isa. 49:15, 66:13;

Ps. 131:2, 103:13, 145:8; Jn. 15:13; Jer. 31:3, 1 Thess. 2:4-13,

NIRV, RSV, NRSVCE; Deut. 32:11-12, KJV. [See additional love

names at the end of today's post.]) 

❃❃❃

 

And then, in a season that bounces back and forth--like the up and 

down seasons of the soul that Julian understood so well:

Autumn meditation upon Jn. 3:8: 

    (In regard to the last two lines, Evelyn Underhill speaks of an 

experience in which, “Consciousness has suddenly changed its rhythm 

and a new aspect of the universe rushes in.  The [usual] teasing mists 

are swept away, and reveal, if only for an instant, the sharp outline of 

the Everlasting Hills [Deut. 33:12-15].”^[18]  This is very similar to the 

secret of God’s great Love that Julian saw and promised us.  And the 

“spell” might be similar to Pope Francis’s discussion of “awe” and 

“consolations”--spiritual gifts/graces we can humbly seek.^[19] )

❃❃❃

From my journal:

Today the breezes seem to blow right through me . . . as if 

I were a part of it all--a cloud afloat and the same as . . . 

the magical spell in the air.

Today . . . but yesterday I held my own council--

scolding God for those things that happen . . . 

that reason cannot unlock.

Today, I can say, “It is ... over, Lord” . . . and a hardness 

has washed away--leaving me free and as light as the wind . . . 

as it plays on this sweet autumn day. ^[20]

     (Often, before we can see as Julian saw, we must allow ourselves 

a “Let go . . . let God” experience [as discussed so wisely by AA and 

various "Twelve Step" groups]--expressed here by “It is ... over, Lord.”)

❃❃❃  

Meditating upon Julian of Norwich’s song of the soul

(quoting from Julian's Chap. 56[21]):

(Note: “Dalliance” might be compared to prayer time,

meditation, quiet time, Sabbath time, etc.) 

C. H. Spurgeon: "Even as [our Lord] Jehovah loves His

Only-begotten [Son], so does He love each one of His children."

❃❃❃

A Julian proverb/teaching: [22]

❃❃❃

“Lavender Sky (a Meditation)”  

  

I love the purple evening

before it surrenders to darkness.

I love the etching of each pine tree   

against the lavender sky.

I love the lamp lit windows,

the curls from the chimneys,

the hush that falls on the weary town,

the surrender to the night.

I love the purple evening

before it surrenders to darkness.

It whispers a lilting lullaby,                

promising: All shall be well . . .

    (With reflection upon Julian’s assurance: “For He

loveth and enjoyeth us, and so willeth He that we

love and enjoy Him and mightily trust in Him; and

all shall be well.”[23])

❃❃❃

Meditating upon Julian's promises that no matter

what happens God's Grace, Love, "Light and

Solace" are intimately with us if we but cling

to God [24]:

❃❃❃

A "Weight of Glory" & a "Heavenly Treasure" (a

"child's" meditation; note Lk. 18:17):

                         

     Julian calls us God's "heavenly treasure": "[F]or he

beholds his heavenly treasure [us] with so great love

on earth ..." [25]

                                                        

  Similarly, C. S. Lewis writes: “[T]o be loved by God … delighted

in as an artist delights in his work … it seems impossible, a

weight … of glory…. [One] which our thoughts can hardly

sustain” (The Weight of Glory). [26]

❃❃❃

      (Above we noted some of Julian's LOVE names for God.  Other

love names from Julian are also wonderful--helping us begin a

time of meditation/prayer. Find terms that suit best deep in your

own heart: "Courteous ... Tender" Lord, "Everlasting Keeper," Jesus

our "Brother," "Inestimable Love," "Protector,"  "All-Love,"

"All-mighty, All-wise, All-good," "Holy Spirit ... love and goodness,"

"Love [that] wrappeth us, claspeth us, and all encloseth us," "the

Lover," “God … full gracious and homely ['homelike'],” the One of

“Gracious Embrace,” and on and on.^[27] )

(Note: shape form meditations above are meant to evoke

the childlike heart [Mt. 18:3, Mk. 13:15], which in turn can serve as an

entry to a more meditative heart.  Heart shapes refer to the 

"great divine romance of Heaven" for us; see our 7/3/15 post.)

(See additional blog posts after the “Notes” in “Older/Newer Posts.”  Also 

see additional posts that deal with similar themes regarding the world's 

darkness and pain.^[28] )

……………….

Notes:

1. Pope Francis, “Peace is priceless,” 4/4/13 (by L’Osservatore Romano); http://m.vatican.va/content/francescomobile/en/cotidie/2013/documents/papa-francesco-cotidie_20130404_peace-priceless.html.

2. Julian of Norwich, Showings: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism, ed. Denise N.

Baker (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2005), pp. 8-9 (Chap. 4-5, Long Text).  (Note:

Showings is another name for Revelations of Divine Love.)

3. Julian of Norwich: Showings, trans. Edmund Colledge, O.S.A. and James Walsh, S.J.

(New York: Paulist Press, 1978), p. 130 (Chap. 4, Short Text), emphasis added;

Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Grace Warrack (London: Methuen

& Co. Ltd., 1901, 1949), p. 14 (Chap. 6, Long Text).  (Where Julian used clothing

imagery we use the modern imagery of the comforter.)

4. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Grace Warrack (London:

Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1901,1949), pp. 196, 189 (Chap. 81, 77, Long Text).

5. P. Franklin Chambers, Juliana of Norwich: An Introductory Appreciation and An

Interpretative Anthology (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1955), p. 148 (from Chap. 34

of Revelations of Divine Love, Long Text).

6. Combining translations in Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, p. 14 and

Julian of Norwich: Showings, p. 186 (both Chap. 6, Long Text).

7. Pope Francis, “Peace is priceless,” 4/4/13 (by L’Osservatore Romano).

8. Julian of Norwich: Showings, p. 324 (Chap. 74, Long Text).

9. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, pp. 101, 161 (Chap. 48, 64,

Long Text).

10. Quoted in Walter Holden Capps and Wendy M. Wright, ed., Silent Fire: An

Invitation to Western Mysticism, p. 99 (from Revelations of Divine Love, trans.

Clifton Wolters, Chap. 5, Long Text).

11. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, pp. 74, 193 (Chap. 36, 79,

Long Text).

12. Ibid., p. 193 (Chap. 79, Long Text).

13. Ibid., pp. 159, 65, 170 (Chap. 63, 32, 68). 

14. For all other terms see Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine

Love, ed. Warrack, p. 10 (Chap. 5); pp. 158-159 (Chap. 63); p. 154

(Chap. 51); p. 189 (Chap. 77); Julian of Norwich: Showings, pp. 235,

281 (Chap. 34, 52); capital letters and italics added.  (Also see Ps. 23;

Ps. 63:8, RSV; Josh. 23:8, 1 Kgs. 19:12, Prov. 3:5, Mt. 18:3; KJV, ASV.) 

15. Names or aspects quoted: Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love,

ed. Warrack, p. 122 (Ch. 52); p. 155 (Chap. 61); p. 14 (Chap. 6); p. 187

(Chap. 76); p. 149 (Chap. 60), Long Text.  (Capitals sometimes added.) 

16. Psalm 25, in effect, speaks of God’s Tender Loving Care: i.e., “tender

mercies” and “lovingkindness” (v. 6) and care throughout (ASV, WEB, NKJV,

AMPC).  Similarly see Psalm 40:11; 51:1; 69:16; 103:4. And in reference

to what might be called Julian’s own version of God’s Tender Loving Care

(TLC) see especially clear terminally in Julian of Norwich, Revelations of

Divine Love, ed. Clifton Wolters (Middlesex, England: Penguin Books,

1966), p. 69 (Chap. 6), p. 73 (Chap. 8), p. 109 (Chap. 32), Long Text.  

17. Quotations combine two translations of this passage from Chap. 60-61:

Julian of Norwich: Showings, pp. 300-302; Julian of Norwich, Revelations

of Divine Love, ed. Warrack, pp. 154-155 (also p. 149), Long Text (“Mother”

is capitalized as it is at most often in this teaching).  Also see Note 15.

18. Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism (New York: Meridian Books, 1955), p. 178.

19. See Lk. 11:9-13. Also see Note 1 above and Notes 1, 7 of:

https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2016/06/pope-francis-and-tender-music-of.html

20. Meditations, prayer/poetry/proverbs and journaling by Lorraine B.

Eshleman.

21. Quoting Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Warrack,

p. 135 (Chap. 56) Long Text.  

22. Ibid., pp. 198, 33 (Chap. 82, 14) and Eph. 3:21, KJV. (Capitalization and italics

added.)

23. Ibid., p. 170 (Chap. 68). 

24. Ibid., p. 202 (Chap. 86), capitals added. (For "cling" see Julian of

Norwich: Showings, pp. 235 [Chap. 34], p. 281 [Chap. 52] Long Text.)  

25. Ibid., p. 202 (Chap. 86). emphasis added.

26. C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses, ed. Walter Hooper

(New York: Macmillan Pub., 1949, revised 1975), p. 13, emphasis added.

(Also see Mt. 17:1-13.)

27. As well as sources cited most often above, some of these terms come

from: Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Wolters. (Capitals

may be added throughout). For “homelike” see Marcelle Thiébaux,

The Writings of Medieval Women: An Anthology (Garland Pub., 1994),

pp. 449, 456, 460 (from Revelations of Divine Love, Thiébaux translating

Ch. 4 [Short Text] and Ch. 60, 68 [Long Text]).

28. For other posts about the world's darkness and pain see:

"God’s 'Tender Mercies' and the World’s (Our) Pain"; 

https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2016/10/;

also see "The 'Divine Romance,' God's Suffering, and God's 'Pathos' (or Wrath?)";

http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-divine-romance-gods-suffering-and.html;

and note this post--focusing especially on Julian's guidance: “The ‘Fickle’

Weather of the Human Soul, God’s TLC & Advice from the Old Saints: Julian

of Norwich, [Martin] Luther, St. Ignatius, etc.”;

https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-fickle-weather-of-human-soul-gods.html .