St Julian of Norwich, a 14th century mystic, said these
words about one of her visions:
"In this vision God showed me a little thing, the size
of a hazelnut, and it was round as a ball.
I looked at it with the eye of my understanding and thought
"What may this be?"
And it was generally answered thus: "It is all that is
made."
I marveled how it might last, for it seemed it might
suddenly have sunk into nothing because of its littleness. And I was answered
in my understanding:
"It lasts and ever shall, because God loves it."
In this little thing I saw three properties.
The first is that God made it.
The second that God loves it.
And the third, that God keeps it."
St. Julian, in her
vision, is inspired by the Holy Spirit to "see."
Her consciousness is illumined, her soul is inspired, her
heart is awakened.
She becomes extraordinarily aware of something that is
small and ordinary. A hazelnut, which grows on a tree and is small enough to be
held in the palm of one's hand.
Through her "eye of understanding" St. Julian
beholds the hazelnut from the perspective of God.
She herself, a creation of God, is able to see creation
from the perspective of God Who is the Divine watchful Shepherd.
For St Julian, the vastness of creation appears small, even
fleeting, when one's vision is fixed on Eternal Love. The enormity of humanity, of earth and of
cosmos can be momentarily imagined as contained in a tiny hazelnut because
Divine Love is all-embracing.
As St Julian says, "God made it. God loves it. God
keeps it."
On this All Saints Day/All Souls Day weekend with blankets
of leaves spreading across the city, cool air chilling our skin and radiant
sunshine illuminating the neighborhoods, we have a beautiful opportunity to be
touched with the gift of "seeing" like St Julian.
God illumines our consciousness, inspires our souls
and awakens our hearts.
What does our "eye of understanding" see today?
For this, let us place into the palm of our hand Psalm 23.
The Psalm is the voice of a single human being.
The Psalm has been read and prayed and sung for centuries.
You and I know it.
These words from a single soul have universal significance.
This person has been to the darkest of places of suffering
and yet is assured of God's serene presence.
When the waters of life become tumultuous, God stills them.
When there is doubt and lack of direction, God opens a
path.
When there is struggle with evil and injustice, God pours
out abundant oils of courage.
Today, the words of Psalm 23 are the words of our mother,
father, sister, brother, cousin, student, child, grandchild, friend, colleague
and stranger.
These are the words of one saint and of all saints;
the saints gathered here today and the saints throughout
time.
In life's struggles and triumphs we have all said to God,
"You restore my soul;
in the dark valley you are with me;
you prepare a table for me;
you anoint my head;
my cup overflows;
I shall dwell with You always."
Holding this one Psalm in the palm of one's hand is to hold
a universe of hearts echoing prayers to God in the thick of life experience.
The Divine Shepherd holds this Communion of Saints together
blowing upon them the breath of holy encouragement.
God made it, God loves it and God keeps it.
With our vision fixed on Eternal love we see that God
connects us over time and space into a single household of compassion that
dwells forever.
Seeing through the "eye of understanding" is a
watchfulness into our own selves as persons of truth and love created in God's
image. Seeing through the "eye of understanding" is having acute
awareness that we are made for holiness and that as unique individuals we are
mysteriously connected with one another in our paths of holiness.
One person's love is contagious.
One person's courage has an impact.
One person's compassion heals.
One person's lament condemns.
One person's knowledge inspires.
One person's hope transforms.
Like St Julian, as human beings made of flesh and blood, our
"eye of understanding" is deepened through our physical connection
with creation. It is good to literally hold in the palm of one's hand beauties
from creation whether it is a hazelnut, a seed, a leaf, a blade of grass, a
flower or a rock ----so as to feel the softness, the rough edges, observe the
colors and to breathe in the fragrance.
In lavish touch we can reverently
reflect on the flesh and blood saints we have known and loved, saints who have
prayed to God for comfort, who have courageously responded to Christ's call to
love and heal and who know they are kept eternally safe in the hand of God.
They belong to us and we belong to them and together we dwell in the house of
God forever.
Catholic theologian Sr Elizabeth Johnson says that All
Saints Day "is a feast of greatest solidarity, a fundamentally joyous day
that takes note of historical suffering within the overarching theme that the
last word belongs to divine love."
This Divine love rings through the cosmos in Holy Sophia's
words,
"Whoever finds me, finds life."
Divine love echoes from ancient Israel in Jesus' words,
"Rejoice with me, for I found my sheep that was
lost."
And Divine love is shared by the saints gathered here today
inspired by the Holy Spirit to see with the eye of understanding.
From human and divine perspective both, the Communion of
Saints on earth and all souls departed are divine gift and will dwell together
in the house of God forever.
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