A mother's view of God's love
(continued)

Originality is her strong suit and she skirts close to heresy at times. "Heresy", that is, by the standards of the dogma of her day. Her view of the ultimate triumph of God's love could be sneeringly condemned as universalism, but it has the support of revered early theologians such as Origen. "I could find no anger in God", she declares, ignoring the fire-and-brimstone ranting of itinerant preachers of her day. She saw God's love as complete and overcoming: neither to be defeated by human or demonic rebellion nor to be forced into oppressive reaction. "Sin is necessary", she declares enigmatically, "but everything will turn out right in the end".

Her view is long range, reaching from her tiny cell out into the ultimate destination. Her appreciation of divinity touches the horror of Passion (but with sympathetic delicacy) and the hugeness of creation. Her book is relatively small, but her visionary range is immense - a paradox that is illustrated by one of her images. She sees a tiny nut in the palm of her hand and asks God "What is that?"
"It is everything there is", comes the tender reply
Suddenly, she sees that the smallest speck of life and the most distant stars, are accessible to God and within her spiritual grasp - and the world ceases to be overwhelming.

It is not surprising that Julian has become popular in our modern world. Her mysticism is homespun, simple and accessible and carries none of the baggage of formal asceticism or ecclesiastical language. She is readable. She is lovable. She is stirring. If you want to be reassured of God's love, read Julian's "Revelations".

©Derrick Phillips
September 2001