Culture of Care

 

            The title for this inspirational piece came from a sentence in an article I read about Julian of Norwich.  I have long been an admirer of Julian, the fourteenth century English mystic and writer on spirituality.  I may well have been in graduate school before I ever encountered Julian.  But I liked her on my first read.  Reading her was both a comfort and a challenge.  She was a comfort because when you read her, you have the feeling she knows God and knows the kinds of things God wants humans to know about all sorts of spiritual things.  I found Julian a challenge, however, in that she offers insights to God which I had never heard before and, therefore, was not sure how to deal with them. 

            We do not actually know Julian’s real name.  The name by which we know her was taken from the church in Norwich, England to which she became attached.  She actually made a home in a small cell that was attached to the church itself.  She became a kind of spiritual counselor who attracted folks from all walks of life as they came to her in order to be given some spiritual wisdom.

            She is best known for her book, The Revelations of Divine Love.  There is actually a short version of this text and then after twenty years’ reflection, Julian issued a longer version.  Core to the book is a series of revelations (or Showings, as they sometimes are called) granted to her by God.  We know exactly when Julian was granted her visions---sixteen visions, to be precise.  These visions were offered on May 8, 1373.  For the next twenty years, Julian pondered and analyzed these basic visions---which eventually led to the longer text. 

            Julian’s basic message is one of trust in God and the appropriateness that comes from this trust or faith.  Part of the struggle Julian goes through is trying to square what she feels is given directly to her by God and the official church teaching, which she desires to give full adherence.  We see this struggle especially in issues are sin.  Julian is quite aware that the church teaches that humans are sinners and, therefore, deserve to be damned by the loving God.  And yet, her experience of that loving God and the revelations God bestows on her suggests there is no eternal damnation. 

            Ultimately, there is no wrath, Julian teaches.  Julian is best-known for her phrase that “all shall be well.”  The first time I read these words, it felt like I had just been given the secret.  It seemed to me that all theology might come down to two propositions:  God is love and all shall be well.  We certainly can live complicated lives and we can add complexity to theology.  But in the end, it is that simple: god is love and all shall we well.

            Even when I type these words, the profundity of their truth convinces me.  But with all theology, the call is to put this truth into action.  Theology is more than words and doctrines; theology is the rationale for our action in the world.  And so it was this simple truth transformed Julian’s life and made her an effective counselor and minister in her world---and still to our world.

            And so I was reading an article by a friend of mine, Philip Sheldrake.  His catchy title was “Two Ways of Seeing.”  Part of what Philip wanted to do is show how original Julian is.  Her originality comes through the direct revelations or visions she is given by the loving God.  The good news is Julian saw these gifts of vision were not only meant to her alone, but they were intended for humanity around and---and all of us much more distant from the early fifteenth century.  And this sharing points to the other thing Sheldrake wants to show, namely, Julian is not only a product of her own culture, but is a gift to our culture.

            Julian lives at the end of the medieval world---the Middle Ages, as they were called in high school.  It was a culture of haves and have-nots.  The feudal lords had the power, wealth, etc.  And the serfs and other little guys had next-to-nothing.  It often was a culture of exploitation.  In this sense it has some obvious parallels to our own culture.  And this makes Julian more relevant than it might seem on the surface.

            Sheldrake is careful to posit a different kind of culture that emerges from the theology of Julian of Norwich.  Instead of a culture of exploitation and oppression, Julian’s spirituality aims to create a culture of care.  And this is exactly what the life and ministry of Julian is devoted to.  She lived in the cell which was attached to the wall of the church and was a dispenser of care.  As we picture this scene, a couple things stand out.  Here is a woman of the church acting out a ministry of care.  It is tempting not to see this in sacramental terms, but I would argue it is quite sacramental.

            Julian and her care are visible signs of God’s invisible loving reality.  The message of her ministry is “all shall be well.”  It is a message of hope and wholeness---what theologians might label as salvation.  Julian embodied God’s love and incarnated that loving care in a world which was tumultuous and, often scary.  Again parallels to our own world are evident.

            All Christians are called to follow Jesus.  I suggest we could do worse than also be creators of a culture of care in our own little worlds.