Alone in the Presence

I had seen it several times during the Spiritual Director’s International Conference at the end of March. It is one of a series of Prayer Vessels by Monica Armstrong, who had liberally spread her art throughout the meeting rooms. Titled Alone in the Presence, Monica honors the spiritual wisdom of Julian of Norwich.

Julian was an anchoress in 14^th century England, which means that she lived the last decades of her life in a small cell with the door locked so she could not go out nor others come in. Her cell had a window into the church from which she could hear the Mass and receive the sacrament. There was a second window on the outside wall where anyone could come and talk to her and ask for her advice.

The prayer vessel represents Julian’s ministry of prayer, contemplation and spiritual guidance. She lived her life physically in the middle, between the church and the world. While observing the daily offices, she was not cloistered from the world but available to any and all who passed by. The prayer vessel creates a similar physical inner space of prayer and meditation, a part of the world while apart from it.

Julian was a holy woman who experienced visions from God and took twenty years to write her understanding of them in Revelations of Divine Love. Her non-punitive understanding of sin was radically different from the Church of her time. Also, Julian often used feminine images of God, even describing Christ as “our mother.” Her sense of the inclusiveness of God’s complete love led her to state: “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Alone in the Presence provides a striking contrast to Monica’s other vessels in bowl or bottle shapes which are traditionally seen as feminine forms. It stands tall and narrow as a tower, strong and visible, which is a traditionally masculine shape. While I am not privy to Monica’s vision for her artwork, I can speak to my response. It illustrates one medieval woman’s ability to stand, separate and tall, independent in an age when a woman’s independence often meant ostracism or death. She wrote and spoke God’s truth as she knew it, opposing the fear and turmoil of those days when the plague or violence from other people could strike anytime.

Julian’s cell has not survived and the church was destroyed by a bomb during World War II. However as the first woman to write a book in English, her words continue to inspire many who continue to learn from her vision over six hundred years ago.

Alone in the Presence now sits where I can see it while I provide spiritual direction, a reminder of Julian who preceded me in listening to others on their spiritual journeys.

What is Your Hermeneutic Perspective?

It is a shame that the name for the study of how we read and understand a text is so difficult: hermeneutics. I can imagine anyone’s first encounter with the word, trying to use phonetics to pronounce it, then deciding to watch TV instead. If you want a definition I think the one in Wikipedia is a good start.

Rather than trying to explain it in great detail, I suggest you take a short twenty question Hermeneutic Quiz, sponsored by Christianity Today and Leadership Journal. This quiz will let you experience the range of decisions that people make, rather than try to think it all through. As you take the test, you may wonder why the questions are worded the way they are and if there is something you are missing. Just go ahead, and answer with what seems to make sense to you

There is nothing neutral and accurately quantifiable about the quiz. The questions clearly reflect the bias of the person developing it, and reflect one view of the issues of interpretation. It is thought provoking and may open your eyes to what choices you make as you encounter the more difficult passages of the Bible.

Try it and let me know how you scored, and what you learned in the process.

Let me note that several members of my family have taken it, and the scores ranged from a conservative 49 to mine as the most progressive at 83. Several of the test takers noted that the categories of conservative or progressive for some of the questions seemed strange, and that they were surprised with their ranking.

More importantly, a family as diverse as mine on this scale of biblical hermeneutics still comes together as a family, laughing and crying together, knowing our common bond. We have had our clashes and struggles over the years, but we never called each other names or questioned each other’s Christianity. We are all active in the ministry of our various churches, and know that each one is living a life of faith true to that person’s understanding of the Bible. Someday I hope to be able to say that about my Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.