Dark Moments

A reflection on Dame Julian of Norwich’s text from Revelations of Divine Love:

‘All shall be well. You shall see yourself that all things shall be well. That which is impossible for you is not impossible for me. I shall keep my word in all things and I shall make all things well.’

‘All shall be well’…
She must have said that
Sometimes through gritted teeth.
Surely she knew the moments
When fear gnaws at trust,
The future loses shape,
Gethsemane?

The courage that says
‘All shall be well’
Doesn’t mean feeling no fear,
But facing it, trusting
God won’t let go.

‘All shall be well’
Doesn’t deny present experience,
But roots it deep
In the faithfulness of God,
Whose will and gift is life.

Written for and shared at the 2017 International Women’s Day service, St Thomas’s Church of England, Salisbury UK. Published in Ann’s book Watching for the Kingfisher by Canterbury Press.