Motto of the Order of Julian of Norwich (2)

 Second in a series of four reflections from Richard Norton CJN ObJN

ALLOW

In our waiting we allow things to happen to us in the very depths of our being, our souls. Allowing things to happen to us, without making them do so is a control mechanism. It reminds us that it is not all about ‘me.’  This too is counter cultural, for we live in a time where we are repeatedly told that we are ‘worth it,’ as the adverts say. Indeed, we are ‘wuth it,’ not for the accumulating of stuff but only because we pray to be made worthy of the promises of Christ, as the Angelus says. To allow is to open ourselves to those promises in an encounter with the divine grace which Julian knew so well. Like her, our allowing is about opening a space in our souls where we can see the face of God and live. We wait and allow, so that like Julian, we can receive the Holy Spirit of God, without pre-determining what that might look like. This is at once terrifying and exciting; terrifying because in our allowing, mission and ministry may take us to places and people we would rather not go to; conversely, it is exciting because maybe God will take us along paths we would never have believed possible.