The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers |
Julian of Norwich: The Fullness of Joy
is Our Birthright 05/04/2023 |
Having named the “five supreme joys” within Divinity, Julian tells us that “Christ wants us to rejoice in them, too.” |
She recognizes three faces in
Jesus—one is suffering, yet “glad and joyful”; another is of “empathy and compassion;”; and the third is joyful. But “the joyful face was shown more than the other two and continued the longest.” | “Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the Dance said He…” Audio performance by Jo Olivia. |
She says “Jesus is true, lasting joy” who possesses a
“loving face” that invites each of us to reconnect our “outer and inner” faces so that joy shines forth from us. The divine joy calls all creation and all humans to joy. Julian invites us into the via positiva to rejoice,
praise, thank, love, bless. She insists that “the fullness of joy is our birthright”—and it goes along “with intense yearning and unshakable trust.” For Julian, we are born into a “birthright of never-ending
joy.” |
“We are united for peace. Our songs are sending messages of Peace. This is what we want in South Sudan.” Performance groups representing three tribes of
Jonduru, South Sudan, invoked peace in traditional drumming, music and dance. Photo by Gregorio Cunha, UNMISS, on Flickr. | She writes: We will not take possession of our birthright of never-ending joy until we find ourselves fully gratified with God and all his actions and judgments, loving and nonviolent toward ourselves and |
toward all our fellow seekers and able to love everything God loves. She offers guideposts to tapping into that
birthright, including responding gratified with all that life offers us–the “well and the woe”– therefore; the via positiva and the via negativa; the light along with the darkness. Another guidepost is learning to love oneself and be
nonviolent toward ourselves and others; and loving all of creation as God loves all of creation. Here she is adapting Jesus’s teaching to “love others as oneself.” Healthy self-love is what we project onto others and into our relationships with others—and the “others” are all of creation—that is,“everything God loves.” These are the means to recognizing joy and staying in it no matter what circumstances we
undergo. |
For Julian, once we dwell on goodness in creation it affects our view of the world and fills us with joy. “To behold God in all things is to live in complete joy.” The “all
things” of which she speaks includes difficult and trying things. | |
Eckhart says that “everything praises God. Darkness, privations, defects, evil too praise God and bless God.” Julian says that our joy can be “complete” when we find God in all
things. Eckhart said the same when he declared that the sign that we have undergone breakthrough is that we see God in all things. To be continued. |
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond, pp. 25-29. Banner Image: Dancing with bubbles, Prague, Czech Republic. Photo by Alex Alvarez on Unsplash |
Queries for Contemplation
Do you believe with
Julian that “the fullness of Joy is our birthright?” What follows from that? |
| To view today's video, please click the image. You will be taken to today's post on the Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox website, where you can see the meditation in a larger version and also view and post your Comments. In the sharing that follows, a kind of community is developing around the DM.
If
you can't reach today's post on the website directly, click HERE.
If you can't reach Matthew's video on the website, try his Vimeo channel HERE.
|
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our
website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian way ahead
of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book. “What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the
eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.” –Caroline Myss Now also available as an audiobook HERE. | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “The Physics of Angels – Exploring the Realm Where Science and Spirit Meet” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat.
Thursday, May 18, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “The A.W.E. Project – Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, June 15, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Phil Goldberg of Spirit Matters: Conversations on Contemporary Spirituality interviews Matthew Fox on Opening to Original Blessing. To listen to their conversation, click HERE | |
Please share this post! Just click the buttons below.
OR share your insights on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #RevDrMatthewFox and tag Matt with @RevDrMatthewFox
|
|
|
|
