The love of God suffrith never His chosen to lose tyme, for all their troble is turnyd into endless joye; and how we arn al bownden to God for kindness and for grace. For every kind is in man, and us nedyth not to seke out to know sondry kindes, but to Holy Church. Sixty-second chapter.
God's Keeping Through All Trials
God shows us our frailty and failings, yet also His power, wisdom, and love that keep us tenderly and turn all woe into endless joy.
For in that time He showed our frailty and our fallings, our breakings and our being brought to nothing, our scornings and our outcastings, and all our woe as far as it seemed to me it could befall in this life.12 And with that He showed His blessed power, His blessed wisdom, and His blessed love: that He keeps us in this time as tenderly and as sweetly for His honor, and as securely for our salvation, as He does when we are in our greatest solace and comfort.3 And beyond that He raises us up spiritually and highly in Heaven, and turns it all to His honor and to our joy without end.4 For His love never lets us lose time.5 And all this is from the kindly goodness of God by the working of grace.6
The Kindly Nature of God and Humankind
God is kindness itself, the ground and substance, true Father and Mother of all nature, and all natures are fully present in humankind through grace.
God is kindness in His being; that is, the goodness that is kind — it is God.7 He is the ground, He is the substance, He is the same thing that is kindness; and He is true Father and true Mother of nature; and all natures that He has made to flow out of Him to do His will shall be restored and brought back into Him by the salvation of humankind through the working of grace.89 For of all the natures that He has placed only partially in various creatures, the whole is in humankind—in fullness and virtue, in beauty and goodness, in royalty and nobility, in every kind of solemn preciousness and honor.10
Our True Home in Holy Church and Christ
We are bound to God for nature and grace, and we need not seek far to know various natures but find them in Holy Church, our own soul, and in Christ, who is the beloved of all.
Here we can see that we are all bound to God for nature, and we are all bound to God for grace. Here we can see that we don't really need to search far and wide to know various natures, but to Holy Church, into our Mother's breast—that is to say, into our own soul, where our Lord dwells; and there we will find everything: now in faith and understanding, and afterward truly in Himself, clearly, in bliss.11 But let no man or woman take this as belonging only to themselves, for it is not so; it is general.12 For it is our precious Christ, and this fair nature was ordained for Him—for the honor and nobility of humankind's making, and for the joy and bliss of humankind's salvation—just as He saw, knew, and understood from before the beginning.13
Read the original Middle English
For in that tyme He shewid our frelte and our fallyngs, our brekyngs and our nowtyngs, our dispits and our outcastings, and all our wo so ferforth as methowte it myght fallen in this life. And therwith He shewid His blissid myte, His blissid wisdam, His blissid love, that He kepyth us in this tyme as tenderly and as swetely to His worship and as sekirly to our salvation, as He doith whan we are in most solace and comfort. And therto He resysith us gostly and heyly in Hevyn, and turnith it al to His worship and to our joye withoute end. For His love suffrith us never to lose tyme. And all this is of the kind goodnes of God be the werkyng of grace.
God is kynde in His being; that is to sey, that goodnes that is kind, it is God. He is the ground, He is the substance, He is the same thing that is kindhede; and He is very fader and very Moder of kinde; and all kindes that He hath made to flowen out of Him to werkyn His will, it shall be restorid and browte ageyn into Him be the salvation of man throw the werking of grace.
For of all kyndes that He hath set in dyvers creatures be parte, in man is all the hole - in fulhede and in vertue, in fairhede and in goodhede, in rialtie and nobley, in al manner of solemnite of pretioushede and worshipp. Here may we sen that we arn al bound to God for kinde, and we arn al bound to God for grace. Here may we sen us nedith not gretly to seken fer out to knowen sundry kindes, but to Holy Church, into our Moder brest, that is to sey, into our owen soule wher our Lord wonnyth; and ther shall we fynde all; now, in feith and in understondyng, and after, verily in Himselfe, clerely, in bliss. But no man ne woman take this singler to himselfe, for it is not so; it is general. For it is our pretious Criste, and to Him was this fair kind dyte for the worship and noblyth of mannys makyng and for the joye and the bliss of mannys salvation ryte as He saw, wiste, and knew from without begynnyng
Notes
- 1 ↩ME nowtyngs (noughtings): being reduced to nothing / nullified; rendered here as 'being brought to nothing' to keep Julian's force without archaic diction.
- 2 ↩ME dispits = despites: scorn, contempt, or insult suffered; rendered as 'scornings'.
- 3 ↩ME worship here means honor/glory (what redounds to God), not liturgical worship; rendered as 'honor'.
- 4 ↩As in the previous sentence, ME worship = honor/glory; rendered as 'honor'.
- 5 ↩In context (and the chapter heading), 'lose time' means that no stretch of trouble is wasted: God's love turns it toward endless joy rather than allowing it to be fruitless.
- 6 ↩ME kind/kindly in Julian joins natural goodness (nature/kind) with gracious kindness; the next section develops God as 'kind' in His being. Rendered as 'kindly goodness' to keep that Julian sense.
- 7 ↩ME kynde/kind means both 'nature' and 'kindness.' Julian identifies God with that essential kind goodness: God is kindness/nature in His being.
- 8 ↩ME kindhede/kinde/kindes share the kynde root (nature/kindness). Rendered here as kindness / nature / natures for clarity; Julian's wordplay treats them as one cluster. 'very' = true/genuine, not the intensifier. 'Moder' is capitalized in the source and names Julian's theology of God as Mother.
- 9 ↩ME be = by; throw = through. Collective 'it shall be restorid' after plural 'all kindes' is rendered with plural agreement in modern English.
- 10 ↩ME kynde/kindes here is Julian's technical term for created nature (not mere kindness or biological kind); rendered as nature/natures throughout this section.
- 11 ↩Moder brest names Holy Church as Mother; Julian immediately glosses it as our own soul where the Lord dwells—kept as the source's double identification.
- 12 ↩singler = singularly / as a private privilege; rendered as 'belonging only to themselves' against the following general.
- 13 ↩dyte (ME dight) = prepared/appointed/ordained; rendered 'ordained' for the assigning of fair human nature to Christ.
Revelations of Divine Love (Showings) companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent