All Will Be Well

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By: Rev. Meg Allred Finnerud

Don’t we wish we were hearing more of this kind of optimism as the weather around us blessedly eases into spring and a few public spaces open for our enjoyment? Don’t we long for such confidence in the future as many of us go back to work—often leaving our children at home behind us with when we’ve finally had precious time with them? We’re leaving them while still wondering whether their camps and schools will again give them joy? Don’t we wish we’d turn on the news and someone—I mean anyone—would give us this assurance from who-knows-what authority that “all will be well?” So, who actually said this?

I’ll give you a hint. It wasn’t a US President (not even Ronald Reagan even though I would say he’d be a great guess). No, this simple wisdom came from an English woman of the 14th-century named Julian of Norwich—a woman who gave up a place of wealth and privilege for an isolated “religious” life after surviving a life-threatening illness during which God sent her visions. Can we imagine, as we grow so tired of sheltering in our homes, that anyone would choose to isolate-in-place? Mother Julian, as some call her, did just that. And she became one of the most influential spiritual leaders of her day even though she had no official place in the “Holy Church.” In fact, she represented a threat to the “Church” and its authority. Does she sound more interesting now? I hope so.

In this month of May when we celebrate mothers and caregivers, Julian might seem an odd choice. But as I’ve talked to women in Greenwich—mothers and daughters and grandmothers and caregivers—I have seen in them the same resilient spirit Julian embodied and embraced in the face of their challenges. They have told me of the opportunities of time and space the stay-at-home order has given them to pray and contemplate. They have talked of more practical challenges like dragging out recipes long-discarded and mattresses for adult children returning. They have shared how all of these have returned them to an earlier time and role they loved. They are welcoming back husbands who have been rarely at home and spending precious time engaging with their children’s education. Their ability to make the best of the situation—whether spiritually or personally—represents the kind of faithful strength Julian articulated so many centuries ago. And yet, while spring emerges all around us in Greenwich and things begin to open to us, women who are holding their lives and families together so admirably also know that everything has changed. And it’s not just we women who are looking for evidence to support our own hope that “all will be well.” We are all feeling the need to move from mourning the loss of life as we knew it to the hopeful work of building a new future.

Rest assured, we have “Julians” in Greenwich. Such mystics exist among us in this town who are quietly and spiritually mothering us all. Some, we call chaplains—those who come and literally stand with those who suffer or who work on the front lines. They’re working right now with firefighters, police and institutions. They’re at the bedside of the sick and suffering in our hospitals and nursing homes. No matter what faith tradition has formed them, they bring through personal presence this message that “all will be well.” They convey their understanding that God continues to care and that God cares especially for those who suffer and who in the era of social distancing suffer without the presence of family and friends. I know because I have the (recent) privilege of working with such people at Greenwich Chaplaincy Services (GCS)—a non-profit formed in 1968 by the interfaith Greenwich Fellowship of Clergy that convenes monthly to this day. Can we imagine a time when this work could be more needed or appreciated? Does it give us comfort to realize that mother-caregivers in the form of chaplains continue to provide care to those who suffer alone? Do we really want to waste energy arguing about whether it’s religious or spiritual, Jewish or Christian? I don’t think so. I think Julian was right. God just wants us to know “all will be well.”

Find Greenwich Chaplaincy Services on the web at http://www.greenwichchaplaincy.org.

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