Hi there!
Thanks for joining me today. Now that you’ve learned a little about Julian of Norwich, let’s meditate together.
This should take about 7 minutes, so sit down, and get comfortable. I suggest sitting in a nice chair or cross-legged, but do what feels right to you. You can rest your hands on your knees or in your lap, and close your eyes. Make sure you’re in a comfy, quiet, and peaceful spot.
When I meditate, I like to use a phrase to anchor me, like a mantra. Today, we’ll be using one of Julian’s favorites — “all shall be well.” When you feel your mind wandering off, just breathe and repeat that to yourself silently. Like Julian wrote, all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
Take a few deep breaths to get started — in through your nose, out through your mouth. Noticing how your breath moves through you, noticing the sound it makes. You don’t need to count breaths, just breathe naturally.
As we get comfortable, let’s imagine the hazelnut that Julian talks about. I’ll read the passage again here, for us to remember.
“And in this he showed me something small, no bigger than a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed to me, and it was as round as a ball. I looked at it with the eye of my understanding and thought: what can this be? And it was answered generally thus: it is all that is made. I was amazed that it could last, for I thought that because of its littleness it would suddenly have fallen into nothing. And it was answered in my understanding: it lasts and always will, because God loves it; and thus everything has being through the love of God.”
Can you picture the hazelnut? If you have your hazelnut-sized object with you, hold on to it tightly for a moment, noticing how it feels. How small it is. Let’s picture ourselves as among the many beings living within this hazelnut, as Julian does. We are awfully small, then, in the scheme of things. After all, the hazelnut is not us, not even just our earth. It is all that is made. We’re already rather small compared to all the universe — and the universe is a lot larger than a hazelnut to us. How small are we, if all of creation is only a hazelnut? What does it feel like to be this small?
Perhaps it’s a little unsettling to be this small. It was unsettling to Julian — she was so worried that the hazelnut would fall into nothing. Maybe, let’s be big again, and focus on the small object in your hands. If we are big, and the hazelnut is only the size of a hazelnut, then we want to protect this hazelnut. We want to take care of it. Picture that for a moment — the care you will give to it. How you will watch over it, and make sure it is safe.
How can we be both within the hazelnut and also be the one caring for the hazelnut?
There is a small hazelnut of goodness within us, and perhaps that is the best and truest version of us. And how will we care for this little bit of goodness?
It might also feel a little unsettling to be the one responsible for the hazelnut. We may worry, again, that it will fall into nothing. Yet let’s remember Julian’s words — “it lasts and always will” because it is loved. Because it is loved.
We last because we are loved, and so does everything else in creation. This large, complex, and fiercely interconnected cosmos is tied together by love and love alone — and no matter how small we are, we are valued with a love so strong that it literally binds the universe together.
With love, we protect the hazelnut. With love, we are protected when we are part of it. We all may imagine and feel different sources for this love. Perhaps it is the love of a deity or religious figure, protecting it gently. Perhaps it is the love that people have for each other that binds it together, keeps it safe and whole. Perhaps it is the love you have for yourself, as you protect the kernel of goodness within you.
It lasts and always will, and so, all shall be well. All shall be well. All shall be well.
Thank you for spending time today with me, with Julian, and most of all, with yourself.
