Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Things just don’t seem to be letting up, do they? After all the excitement of the holidays, just when we think we can take a breather, COVID slams back into high gear with an even more contagious version. Many of us have been able to get vaccinated and some of us have now received a booster. But, lo and behold! COVID Omicron can grab us even when we’ve taken those precautions. Thanks be to God, it **seems** to be less vicious, which is a relief for those of us who are protected. But it’s still discouraging and anxious-making.
Lately, I’ve been thinking of what it must have been like in the Middle Ages, when wave after wave of the Black Death rolled through Europe. Then, there were no vaccinations and no antibiotics. Treatments were what we would mostly call traditional folk medicines, with some additions of highly questionable safety.
The famous English mystic, Julian of Norwich, lived through the first invasion of the bubonic plague, when over half of the residents of Norwich died. She doesn’t say much in her writing about the plague itself, because she focuses on the spiritual life. But she did coin the well-known phrase, “All shall be well. All manner of things shall be well.” What a testament to the depth of her faith, that no matter what happens, we are held in God’s hands!
In her book Showings, Julian wrote, “All things have being by the love of God…God made (them), God loves (them), …and God keeps (them).” Today’s selection from Psalm 36 might well have inspired her.
Verse 6b: “You (God) save both man and beast.”
Verse 9: “With you is the well of life and in your light we see light.”
As we continue to walk through this time together, please don’t forget that God walks with you, loving you and keeping you, no matter what the circumstances may be.
Blessings,
Mo. Laura+