All Shall be Well

Robert Lenz

“He said not 'Thou shalt not be tempested, 
thou shalt not be travailed,
thou shalt not be dis-eased'; 
but he said, 'Thou shalt not be overcome.” 

 “All shall be well, 

and all shall be well 

and all manner of thing shall be well.” 
 

 “If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe,

 I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. 

But this was shown: 

that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.” 

― Julian of Norwich 

On the weekend we attended the memorial service in the church I served for more than a decade for one of the women in Ruth's circle of friends while we lived in Sudbury, and in the years following. It was well attended and moving in many ways, yet it didn't change the grim reality that this person had died of ALS, a cruel disease.

Then I saw that Rachel Held Evans, a fine young (37) Christian writer with a huge online following had died after a brief illness, leaving a husband and two children. I admired her honesty and successful efforts to make exiled evangelicals feel that there was still room for them in the Christian family.

Yesterday it was the death at the age of 90 of a remarkable Canadian, Jean Vanier, which made my heart heavy. Vanier was from a prestigious family but chose to live in simplicity alongside those who might otherwise be castoffs in society because of cognitive and physical challenges. He has been described as a modern-day Christian saint, and deservedly so.

Enough already. Then this morning I saw that this is Julian of Norwich Day, a yearly acknowledgment of the spiritual legacy of this Medieval mystic, who also lived a remarkably simple life. The quotes above are from her writings, reminders of God's abiding love in even the most tragic and perplexing seasons of life. We all end up being "tempested" at times, yet "all will be well."  While she lived in the 14th century her witness and counsel continue to bring comfort and encouragement.