Thought for the day – Saturday 9th May 2020
The second on a number of reflections on the work and witness of Julian of Norwich from the Rev’d Diane Smith.
In recent days many individuals have taken up new hobbies and crafts or committed to finishing some DIY work. People’s gardens are looking very well-tended and a number of fences in the area have received a much needed lick of paint. It is a good thing to lose ourselves, if we can, in these sorts of activities for our spiritual as well as our mental wellbeing.
One of Julian’s reflections on God is simply called “The needle point”.
I like to think of Julian in deep contemplation as she worked her needle………
Many are currently using such skills to help others. The Nuns in the convent opposite our home are making scrubs for the NHS. Many of you knit hats for the seafarers or make baby clothes for premature babies born at Ipswich hospital. Some of you are already making items for the Samaritans Purse Christmas Shoe Box appeal or preparing for our own circuit online arts and crafts exhibition.
I know you find God in your creativity and are doubly blessed if you are making something for someone else.
In your art work of whatever form, you celebrate the Creator of all who is the needle point, the very centre of all things. The image of God as the Centre Point reassures us and comforts us; there is nothing beyond his reach or beyond his love. Like a patchwork quilt made of all sorts of fragments and discarded pieces of fabric, the simple action of the needle brings it all together and turns that which might have been rejected, into something beautiful.
I see God’s salvation in the work of the heavens but also in the work of your hands.
I love the programme “The Repair Shop” and see it as a window into the very work of God in our lives, who alone is the Centre Point.
(For Prayer; STF 447, Jesus be the Centre written by Michael Frye).
Jesus, be the centre
Be my source, be my light
Jesus
Jesus, be the centre
Be my hope, be my song
Jesus
Be the fire in my heart
Be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live Jesus
Jesus, be my vision
Be my path, be my guide
Jesus
Julian of Norwich, was an English anchorite of the Middle Ages. She wrote the earliest surviving book in the English language to be written by a woman, Revelations of Divine Love.
She lived practically her whole life in the city of Norwich. In 1373, aged thirty and so seriously ill she thought she was on her deathbed, Julian received a series of visions of the Passion of Christ. She recovered from her illness and wrote two versions of her experiences, the earlier one being completed soon after her recovery, and a much longer version, known as the Long Text, being written many years later.
For much of her life, Julian lived in permanent seclusion in her cell, which was attached to St. Julian’s Church, Norwich. Though not canonised she is widely referred to as “Saint”, “Lady” and “Mother”.