Julian-of-Norwich

Bop, Shoo Bop

What do you think gets better with age?

An earnest and rare charismatic Lutheran friend made us teach ‘Jesus is my rock’ to our young cabin group children at Church Camp. It was so long ago I can’t really remember the whole song. I AM Lutheran too. As far as I know, this isn’t a Lutheran song. Gosh, I hated singing this. It had ACTIONS 😬 A teenager’s dream.

“Jesus is my rock and he rolls my blues away. Bop shoo Bop, shoo Bop, Woo…”

HATED IT.  Yet, this is what came to mind with today’s prompt. When I look back on the life I’ve experienced so far, it’s easy to pick out the progression of my faith. FAITH gets better with age.  That stupid song is true.  Jesus is my best strength and my best solace in this world.

I wrote about mystic Julian of Norwich in a previous post. A friend sent me a lovely article today that reflects Julian’s perception of the ‘oneness’ of God’s creation.  When we are ‘oneing’ we are rediscovering the intrinsic love of God in all people and all creation.  I think I am inching closer to this concept every day. I desire to engage in ‘oneing’. In many faith groups, the acceptance of human goodness and unity is a long, chased after and continual goal.

What gets better with age?  I wanna say shoes, cheese, and stories. But shoes and cheese have little to do with faith – unless we stretch them into metaphors for learning about each other’s plight (walk a mile in my shoes) or perhaps the journey to oneness.  Cheese, the manna of my life, nourishes my body with creation’s goodness – but I have a real PROBLEM with SHARING it.

Stories are different. Our faith is based on stories that were important enough to first pass on orally and then captured, hand written on parchment. Faith Stories teach us who we are and WHOSE we are. (I’m talking about GOD, in case you didn’t catch that)

These stories portray the most gorgeous aspects of humanity: Kindness, empathy, acceptance,  and love.  Also, the stories don’t leave out the ugliest bits of us: envy, greed, and hatefulness. Stories of faith keep it real and relevant.

Faith ages well. With time, we experience the hills and valleys and those DAMN ROCKS that only JESUS can roll away! We become more aware of ourselves, others, creation, and our place in the order of galaxies and cosmos.  We become more humble and gentle. Social justice is our natural prerogative.

‘Oneing’ with the world looks more and more promising with each passing day. The gift of faith grows from within us. Our personal divine indwelling, our soul, our Godspark, responds to the Godspark in others. Day by day, blessed assurance until our precious Lord takes us home. 

‘Jesus is my rock and he rolls my blues away. Bop, shoo bop, shoo bop, whoo..” Can I hear an AMEN?

“All shall be well, and all shall be well…”

Who is your favorite historical figure?

I am really inspired by Julian of Norwich. She was a Christian Mystic who lived in Medieval England through both waves of the Black Death.  She became an anchoress (well respected non-clergy theological expert) after surviving a grave illness in her 30ies.  True to form, she lived her life secluded, sealed in a cell attached to St. Julian’s Church in Norwich. The cell had a window looking into the church and another looking out to the people in the street to whom she likely gave advice and wisdom.

She was kind of a cool, badass, preacher who walked the walk without limit. She had feminist and inclusive tendencies before feminism or the like even existed. She was the ultimate nobody of nobodies who had a  superhuman ability to see a holy connection and the good in everything.

I am fascinated that no one really knows anything about her, probably not even her actual name. But, somehow, her writings about visions she had of Jesus while she herself was suffering a grave illness are full of theology and ideas far ahead of her time. She called Christ the true mother who birthed us through suffering. Our suffering, she said, is a reflection of Christ. Glory comes through Christ’s suffering, not in spite of it. We suffer to experience a share of God’s unconditional love for us and everything God created.

I’m a pastor and a nerd. My favorite quote from her is,

And all shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.

Julian of Norwich