Julian of Norwich is one of the great mystical figures of Christianity, indeed of world religion. On May 8, 1373, between 4:00 and 9:00AM, she received a number of extraordinary visions, Revelations as they are called, of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ.
In this Revelation the Lord showed me something else, a tiny thing, no bigger than a hazelnut, lying in the palm of the hand, and as round as a ball. I looked at it, puzzled, and thought, ‘What is it?’
The answer came: ‘It is everything that is made.’
I wondered how it could survive. It was so small that I expected it to shrivel up and disappear.
Then I was answered, ‘It exists now and always because God loves it.’ Thus I understood that everything exists through the love of God.
In this small thing I saw three truths: first God made it, second God loves it, and third God looks after it. But what he really means to me as Maker, Keeper and Lover, I cannot tell; I shall never know complete rest and true happiness until all that I am is united with the Lord.
