Awareness and Practice

For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.

—Wisdom 7:26

The Mystery of the Incarnation is the mirror of Christ: Christ perfectly reflects the Divine in the world. We, too, are mirrors, but we are imperfect ones. Sometimes we reflect the glory of God; other times, we reflect something much less noble. Who, or what, reflects God in the world? What do these things reveal about what’s in your heart? For example, if you see God in a beautiful sunset, where do you see your own beauty? If you see God in the generous spirit of another person, what do you see in your own generosity? Similarly, who, or what, doesn’t reflect God? What do these things reveal about what’s in your heart? For example, if you see God’s absence in the violence that plagues the world, what violence lurks in your heart? If you see God’s absence in the selfishness of others, where in your heart does selfishness hide?

Hazelnuts

Lady Julian

c. 1342–c. 1416

I saw that He is to us everything that is good and comfortable for us: He is our clothing that for love wrappeth us, claspeth us, and all encloseth us for tender love, that He may never leave us; being to us all-thing that is good, as to mine understanding.

—Julian of Norwich

Julian of Norwich is a mystery.

All we know about her is that she withdrew from the world, enclosing herself in a small room at St. Julian’s Church in Norwich, England. We don’t even know her real name—she is only referred to by the name of the church where she lived. What little we do know of her comes from the book Revelations of Divine Love, the first book known to have been written by a woman in the English language.

Revelations of Divine Love is a classic in Christian spirituality. Anyone seeking to enter into the mystery of God can benefit from the “showings” she received from God during an illness that almost took her life. In one of these showings, God showed her a little secret, no more than the size of a hazelnut.

What may this be? Julian thought.

God answered: “It is all that is made.”

The secret wasn ’ t in the thing itself but in its properties:

(1) God made it; (2) because God made it, God loves it; and

(3) because God loves it, God keeps it. If something exists, Julian realized, it exists simply because God loves it. God is the Maker, the Keeper, and the Lover.

In this showing, Julian also recognized the secret to finding God in all things: we do not find God in the thing itself; we find God in the love with which God loves that thing.

I think I can find comfort in the right ideas. I might try to find rest in knowing that I belong to the right group. And I like to think I can relax by enjoying the fruits of God’s creation. Yet, I can only find true comfort and rest in the realization that God loves me because God made me and God keeps me. And that truth about me is also true about all things. Whatever comfort I experience comes from God, and God alone, and not from ideas, groups, or possessions.

We find God in all things only when we realize how much God loves everything. And when we realize that God loves everything—including us—we can make Lady Julian’s prayer our own: Lord, give me yourself, for you are enough to me.

Awareness and Practice

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

—John 3:16–17

The Mystery of the Incarnation teaches us that God loves what God made, which is everything. And God loves everything passionately! To fully encounter this mystery, we need to see that God loved not only the Son but also all creation. Perhaps that is how we are saved by God’s Son: he shows us that God’s love can be contemplated everywhere and in everything. Take a moment and bring to mind two people: someone you love and someone who is a source of pain, sadness, or fear. Now, bring to mind two objects: one that is precious to you as well as one that you think is useless. Repeat the following phrase for several minutes: “They are all loved by God.” Does your perception of these people and things change? Knowing that all these things are loved by God, do you see yourself as equally beloved?