Prayer: All Will Be Well

---

All will be well,
and all will be well
and every kind of thing shall be well.

— Julian of Norwich*, Showings, Chapter 27

---

This prayer from Julian provides me comfort, but not in the simplistic “everything will be fine” way. Instead, this reminds me that it’s not all about what I can get done or control. I’m not in charge. I’m not responsible for finding an end to the war in Ukraine, healing the political divide in our nation, ending homelessness, curing cancer, or fixing any other mind-numbing, horrible situation in the world today. As a Christian, I believe that God’s Kingdom will eventually come. And all the atrocities that we humans have inflicted on each other since the dawn of time will ultimately end. But it’s not my job to make that day come. God alone is in charge of this, and it is proceeding according to his plan, even though I can’t see it.

Oh, I am indeed called to do my part. As tempting as it feels when I’m overwhelmed with sadness and confusion, I can’t surrender to despair and do nothing. God asks each of us to participate in this work, but I’m only one small piece in that cosmic puzzle. I’m called to make my corner of the world a bit better. And have faith that with all of us doing the specific work we are called to do, we can not only make “now” better in concrete ways for particular people, but we also contribute to bringing the Kingdom closer to fruition in an abstract way that we can’t understand.

---

*We do not know Julian’s actual name – her name comes from St Julian’s church in Norwich, where she lived as an anchoress for most of her life (1342-1416). As an anchoress, she lived in permanent seclusion in her rooms adjoining the church. In May of 1273, she received a series of 16 visions of Christ and his love for us. At the time, she was very ill and thought to be on her deathbed. However, she lived an additional 43 years and compiled her experience of these visions into the book “Revelations of Divine Love,” (aka “Showings”) the earliest surviving English language work written by a woman. Julian’s words seem particularly appropriate for us to contemplate now, since she also lived through a pandemic. She survived the bubonic plague, which killed almost 50% of the European population in the 14th century.