Tidings of Comfort & Joy, No. 6

Tidings of Comfort & Joy, No. 6

Today’s #songsofcomfort offering is from the Indigo Girls, with an at-home performance of “Galileo.”

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

~Julian of Norwich

This quote from Julian of Norwich, the medieval mystic who lived through the bubonic plague, has been circulating in recent days. And it reminds us that the church exists as a community over time, as well as place.

Not only are we connected to our brothers and sisters in China, in Italy, in Spain, in France, in Egypt, in Algeria, in Ecuador, in Australia...but we are also connected to our brothers and sisters in the 18th century and the 15th century and the 9th century and the 3rd century.

And we can take comfort in that, for the testimony of Julian reminds us that the church has seen pandemics before.

Our world has a curious relationship with time. We live from one news cycle to the next, so it is counter-cultural to take a step back and look for the wisdom offered by history.

Over the next 48 hours, meditate on these words from Julian.
As you prepare for bed tonight, speak her words: “All shall be well.”
When you wake in the morning, “All shall be well.”
When you take that mid-morning break, “and all shall be well.”
When you eat lunch, “and all shall be well.”
During that afternoon break, “and all shall be well.”
At the dinner table, speak the words: “All shall be well.”
And as you prepared for bed again: “and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Over the next 48 hours, sit with these words, let them bring you comfort, and share.

And, as always, remember that joy is essential.

Ingrid Fetell Lee recommends adding a new question around your dinner table:
     “What was the silliest part of your day?”

This question came from Lee’s friends’ 4 year-old daughter. And she notes that the question makes you “notice delightful or weird moments that otherwise would’ve just been noise in a busy day.”

I love the way this silly question changed the perspective of this 4 year-old’s mom. Lee says that “some days she couldn’t immediately think of something silly that happened.” And then she realized that there actually were silly things...once she looked “through the lens of silliness.”

As Lee says, “it reframes experiences that might have been negative into positive ones.” And she adds: “Because you know you’ll be talking about it later, you actually look for more silliness in the world around you, more joy.”

So, ask yourself, ask your spouse, ask your kids:
     “What was the silliest part of your day?”
....
If you need some inspiration...

• Novel is doing virtual Storytime with Miss Marjorie.
• Novel is also doing a virtual book talk, Publisher Picks: Your Quarantine Reading List.
• And Novel is doing a Virtual Book Chat.
• Also, each night, Americana Highways is streaming Live Music From the Quarantine. They’re doing four different artists per night, starting at 6:00pm. (You can find the older videos on their Facebook page. Check out Sarah Peacock’s cover of Heart’s “Crazy On You” from the last week, for example. And Frank & Allie Lee, live from Bryson City, was really good last Monday.)

Live. Love. Laugh. Pray.