Image via author, unnamed lake, Wallowa Mountains, Oregon.

Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) is known mostly through her book, The Revelations of Divine Love, which is one of the great classics of the spiritual life. This may be the first book written by a woman in English which has survived. A non-conforming Anchorite, she lived in seclusion for much of her adult life.

“Lord, let not our souls be busy inns that have no room for thee or thine,
But quiet homes of prayer and praise, where thou mayest find fit company,
Where the needful cares of life are wisely ordered and put away,
And wide, sweet spaces kept for thee; where holy thoughts pass up and down
And fervent longings watch and wait thy coming.”

“If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.”

“God loved us before he made us; and his love has never diminished and never shall.”

“God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honour. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything.”