He shewed a littil thing the quantitye of an
hesil nutt in the palme of my hand –
“it is all that I made” – “it lesteth and ever
shall, for God loveth it; and so all thing
hath the being be the love of God.”
– Julian of Norwich, Chapt. V (sent to all 26/8/98)

In Chapter five Julian speaks of the Lord showing her an object “like a hazelnut”. This nut is so small she can hold it in the palm of her hand. She is told that it is a representation of how God sees all that He has made. Our everyday struggles and fears, our obsessions and desires can all seem so huge from our human perspective &ndas;; but in the context of who God is and what He does &ndas;; these things are no bigger or truly influential than a single hazelnut in the hand. This does not mean they are “trivial” to God. There is a sense that this small thing is both fragile (requiring much care) and precious to God. Furthermore, Julian says that all things owe their existence to the “love of God” and His passionate involvement with them. Flowing from what she sees in the hazelnut, Julian is struck by how fragile this creation is from an eternal / universal / divine perspective. With our broader Twentieth Century understanding we know even more clearly how dependent we are on that &lsqu;;passionate involvement&rsqu;; of our God: the Hubble Telescope has shown what a tiny speck we are in the cosmos; diseases like aids or Golden Staph remind us how finite the “wonder” of medicine really is; even a “friendly” sporting event like the World Cup (let alone the suffering of Yugoslavia or Africa) help us remember man&rsqu;;s inhumanity to man. In this context, Julian reflects that she can hardly tell the difference between God as Creator, Sustainer, or Lover &ndas;; these things are all so intertwined and all find their root in the overriding truth of who God is. Many times in the “Revelations” we hear Julian (like the Apostle John) speak of God as BEING Love &ndas;; for her all His actions, thoughts, dealings with creation flows from this basic truth.

At the very end of the chapter, Julian reflects on the way in which God “made us for Himself alone, has restored us by His blessed passion, and keeps us in His blessed love. And all this is of His goodness.” Yes, there is much that we see around us that is a cause for fear, sadness or even, at times, despair, but in the hazelnut Julian is reminded to keep things in a broader perspective. As Job discovered, God&rsqu;;s goodness and love is not always easy to understand or predict; but nevertheless it stands in an overarching way as much greater than the everyday struggles of our existence. Julian lived in a time when life expectancy was nearly twenty years less than ours; women regularly died in childbirth; and in her life she knew what it was to be deprived of all material things. She had more reason than most of us to cry out and feel afraid &ndas;; and yet within her life there is a recurring sense of peace &ndas;; like Paul it seems she has learned to say: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12 & 13)