A 14th century, English mystic, Julian of Norwich faces a Universalist dilemma.
Why Doesn’t God Prevent Sin?
Julian wrote, “I wondered why, by the great foreseeing wisdom of God, the beginning of sin was not prevented. Therefore, I mourned and sorrowed, without reason and discretion.” Then Jesus spoke with “complete tenderness, showing no manner of blame,” saying, “It is behoovely that there should be sin, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well,”
So Julian concludes, “it would be a great unkindness to blame or wonder on God for my sin, since [God] doesn’t blame me for sin.”
Also, “I saw not sin: for I believe it has no substance whatsoever, nor any part of being, nor could it be known but by the pain it causes. And thus pain is something, for a time: for it purges and makes us know ourselves and ask for mercy.”
And so she repeats Jesus’ answer: “Sin is cause of all this pain; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Yet, “…because of the judgment of Holy church... I understood that sinners sometimes deserve the blame and wrath [of God], and I could not see these two in God…” Instead, “I saw our Lord God blaming us no more than if we were as clean and as holy as Angels in heaven.”
Greatly troubled, she “could have no rest for dread that… I be left in ignorance about how He beheld us in our sin.”
She asks God for help crying, “Good Lord, I see You who are very Truth; yet I know in truth that we sin grievously every day and deserve to be blamed. I can’t stop knowing Your truth, but don’t see You blame us in any manner. How can this be?
“…My longing endured, while I continually beheld Him, and yet I was impatient, and in great straits and perplexity, thinking: ...if we are sinners and blameworthy, Good Lord, how is it that I cannot see this true thing in Thee...?
She “cried inwardly, with all my might seeking unto God for help, saying thus: Ah! Lord Jesus, King of bliss, how shall I be eased? Who shall teach me and tell me that me need to know.”
It was then that “our Courteous Lord answered by revealing a wonderful example of a Lord that had a Servant:
The Parable of the Lord and the Servant
“I saw two persons… a Lord and a Servant… The stately Lord sat in rest and in peace; the Servant stood before his Lord reverently, ready to do his Lord’s will. The Lord looked sweetly and lovingly upon his Servant, and meekly sent the Servant to a certain place to do his will. The Servant not only went, but raced off, running in great haste for love of doing his Lord’s will. And so he fell into a ditch and took great hurt. There he groaned and moaned and wailed and struggled, but he could neither rise nor help himself in any way.
“And of all this, the worst hurt for the Servant was loosing the comfort of his Lord. For he could not turn his face to look upon his loving Lord, who stood near to him, and in whom there was complete comfort. But having become feeble and unwise for a time, the Servant turned his mind to his feeling and endured in woe.
“I marveled how this Servant might meekly suffer there all this woe, and I looked carefully to learn if I could perceive in him any fault, or if the Lord should assign to him any blame. And in fact there was none to be seen. For only the Servant’s goodwill and his great desire was cause of his falling, and he was as diligent and as good inwardly as when he stood before his Lord, ready to do his Lord’s will. And so thus, continually, his loving Lord with complete tenderness beheld him.
“I understood that the lord who sat in state in rest and peace is God. I understood that the servant who stood before him was Adam, that is to say one man was shown at that time and his fall, so as to make it understood how God regards All-Man and his falling. For in the sight of God all men are one man, and one man is all men.
“This man was injured, made helpless and feeble, and his understanding was confounded, because he was distracted from looking on his lord, but his will was preserved in God’s sight. I saw the Lord commend and approve him for his will, but he himself was blinded and hindered from knowing this will. And this is a great sorrow and a cruel suffering to him, for he neither sees clearly his loving Lord, who is so meek and mild to him, nor does he truly see what he himself is in the sight of his loving Lord.”
All Created Being is the Size of a Hazelnut:
“[God] also showed me a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand… I thought, ‘What can this be?’
“My question was answered: ‘It is everything that is made.’
“It seemed to me that it might suddenly fall into nothingness, it was so small…
“I was answered… ‘It lasts, and ever shall last, because God loves it...’
“It is necessary for us to know the littleness of creatures in order to judge them nothing, so that we may love and have the uncreated God. The reason we are not fully at ease in heart and soul is because we seek rest within [the littleness of creatures], and pay no attention to our God, who is Almighty, All-wise, All-good and the only real rest.”
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