I love researching people and ideas and posing questions to myself about what I find. Today, I happened upon a quote by Julian of Norwich (c. 1343 – after 1416), a Christian mystic, spiritual writer, and anchoress living in Norwich during the Middle Ages. She is best known as the author of Revelations of Divine Love, considered the first book in English known to be written by a woman. She wrote these words: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

She didn’t write these words during peaceful times. She lived during a time of immense upheaval — plague, famine, and social unrest. At around age 30, she herself became very ill, and during that time she had a series of what she called “showings,” or spiritual visions. After she recuperated, she spent the rest of her life reflecting and writing about these revelations. She lived as what was called an anchoress. She withdrew from the world and lived as a recluse in a cell attached to the Church of St. Julian. People would come to her window seeking healing or wisdom.

For the rest of the time, she wrote and meditated. For her time, she was a radical, writing about God as unconditional love, the inherent goodness of humanity, and the presence of the Divine in all things. This was counter to what was preached by the churches of her time — hell, damnation, and judgment.

When she spoke those words, “All shall be well,” she wasn’t speaking from comfort or denial. She was speaking from that place within that knew peace, life, and the goodness that is the true essence of all of us.

Why do I bring her up today? We cannot deny that we are going through upheaval, both politically and environmentally. We cannot deny that there is famine and plague all around us. We cannot deny that things aren’t exactly peaceful. We can call it a mess — or we can look deeper, beyond the objective world, and open up to what may be unfolding. We can look deeper into the chaos and see order emerging. We can look deeper into ourselves and find our place in all of it, and the calling to what is ours to be and do. We can say, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well,” because we understand that everything is temporal. As we look back through time, we see that we have always had struggles, and we have always grown through them stronger than when they first presented themselves.

All shall be well! With these words comes the knowing that we were born for these times, and we will overcome them — because life always marches forward and love always wins.

Love,

Rev. Dr. Rita Andriello-Feren, Author, Co-Founding Spiritual Director CSL Kaua’i