There’s a common truth in the worlds of spirituality and psychology that we can’t go move on in life until we’ve truly learned what our present circumstances have to teach us. This was powerfully shown in Ben Okri’s delightful modern myth Astonishing the Gods, where the hero walks through a city wondering at its many … Continue reading On Paying Attention
In spirituality writ large, it’s common for people to talk about longing for God, or the divine. And certainly the various traditions of Christian spirituality and mysticism are no exceptions to this. But one thing that sticks out about how Julian of Norwich uses this language is that she’s actually far less concerned about our … Continue reading God’s Longing Love
A few days ago, we saw how, in a passage talking about the problem of pain, Julian of Norwich stumbled into some language that comes across as being dualist, denigrating matter and embodied life while praising the soul and spiritual life. She comes by this language honestly, for even those of us who, like Julian, … Continue reading The Cart and the Horse: A Reflection on Romans 8:6-11 and Julian of Norwich
Today is the Feast of the Annunciation, the commemoration of the Angel Gabriel’s coming to Mary to tell her of her huge and harrowing role in God’s plan for Israel and the whole world. It is not, as we tend to think of it, properly a ‘feast of Mary’, but a ‘feast of Christ’, and … Continue reading The Greatest Joy Save Himself: A Reflection on the Feast of the Annunciation 2023
Overall, Julian of Norwich’s theology and spirituality are remarkably positive. She filters everything through the greatness of God’s love, which creates, sustains, and provides for all things and against which sin can be “no deed” (Ch 11). But God’s goodness and love are no excuse for complacency. There are still things that can get us … Continue reading On Spiritual Sickness
