"All shall be well and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." Julian of Norwich (1343-1413)

When his followers saw him walking on the water, they were afraid. They said, 'It's a ghost!' and cried out in fear. But Jesus spoke quickly to them, "Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid."
Matthew 14:26 & 27

"The storm is still raging when Jesus says, 'Have no fear.' Even the reassurance of his presence does not automatically make everything easy or magically change the scene from one of danger to one of serenity. Yet the cowering disciples--and we--are assured that somehow, ultimately, we are safe. That it will be all right...

This is the great promise recorded by Julian of Norwich in her Showings. She lived in the fourteenth century, a time of plague, social and political instability. It was a chaotic time not unlike ours, buffeted by wind and waves. She herself had known great physical suffering, receiving her visions at the point ofdeath. She also knew evil, for not all of her visions were beatific: in her sleep she felt herself in the clutch of a hideous devil, whom she banished by keeping her eyes fixed on the cross. Ultimately she knew that she was safe:

"On one occasion the good Lord said, 'Everything is going to be all right.' On another, 'You will see for yourself that every sort of thing will be all right.' He did not say, 'You will not be troubled, you will not be belabored, you will not be disquieted,' but he said: 'You will not be overcome.' God wants us to pay attention to these words and always be strong in faithful trust, in well-being and in woe, for he loves us and delights in us, and so he wishes us to love him and delight in him and trust greatly in him, and all will be well. "
Julian of Norwich

from The Practice of Prayer by Margaret Guenther (1929 - )