Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond

I've heard of Julian of Norwich for almost 40 years. Recently, Richard Rohr mentioned this book in his daily email meditations and I have decided to buy it. The book opened a new vista of creation spirituality to me. This is a more positive outlook on creation, incarnation, and sensuality than the preaching of the mainstream Catholic church. Fox in his forward explains that the creation spirituality was firmly embedded in the wisdom tradition of the Bible, Benedictine spirituality, Franciscan Spirituality, etc. I've learned that this was the position of the church prior to the Bubonic Plaque. During and after the plaque the church fathers focused more on the original sin instead of the original blessing. A week prior, on Mercy Sunday, I devoured the messages of sister Faustina regarding God's Mercy but also purgatory and hell. I felt scared of eternal damnation. A few days later, I received Fox's new book and Julian's message is quite the opposite. It infuses me with hope and joy and awe and wonder for the entire creation. The book also discusses important contemporary issues of our pandemic, systemic racism, and climate change. If you like the teachings of Richard Rohr, you would definitely like this book. It seems to me that a lot of his ideas of nondualism and Universal Christ were inspired by Lady Julian. If you are a woman who is disturbed by the patriarchy in Christianity and would like to experience a more feminine vision of Mother Christ-this book is for you. Or if you like Hildegaard of Bingen, there is another powerful woman for you. I am a therapist. I loved that Julian recommended self-examination and a healthy sense of self. She used the term"dig and ditch" for psychotherapy. Brilliant, right?

I recommend this well written and inspirational book, which offers hope during and after the Covid-19 pandemic and encourages action to solve our climate emergency and rapid loss of bio-diversity. Julian speaks directly with a prophetic voice about other issues of today: sexism, racism, misogyny, matricide and patriarchy. I have successfully used Matthew Fox’s book on Julian of Norwich, a 13th century mystic, as the basis of an 8-week small group discussion on: the dark night of the soul; the metaphysics of goodness, joy and awe; oneing - divinity found in nature and the cosmos; the divine feminine and motherhood of God; non-dualism; trust and courage; love vs. the spirit of evil; and a life of justice and compassion. Fox interprets Julian through the lens of creation spirituality and relates how other medieval mystics (Meister Eckhart, Hildegard, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Thomas Aquinas, and Francis of Assisi) had similar non-dualistic, panentheistic, divine-feminine and “web of creation” understandings. To distinguish from commentary, I found it helpful to highlight the words of Julian in a color, using Kindle desktop. Footnote are provided that reference the 2013 translation by Mirabai Starr, The Showings of Julian of Norwich: A New Translation or Brendan Doyle’s 1983 translation Meditations with Julian of Norwich.

Fox continues his devoted journey on the creation spirituality path with this wonderful reading on Julian of Norwich. He mistakenly expects our Covid crisis to be the turning point from a culture founded on original sin to a culture grounded in Divine Love. Nevertheless, this needed cultural transformation is inevitable. Patriarchy, domination of others, controlling others based on their fear of Hell will not survive much longer.

Reading this book made me want to read Mirabai Starr’s translation of Julian. It also made me ask myself questions about how the divine feminine relates to the climate crisis. At times the writing felt frantic, with a lot of references to other thinkers. I recognize it may be given the publication date and a need to speak to the current pandemic. The book did an excellent job at making me want to learn more about Julian and re-ignited my love for women mystics. It also sparked excellent discussion in the book club I go to on Sundays.

We can learn much from this book as to how to live a different kind of life by thinking outside the box as Julian of Norwich did, which will lead you to a realization that you have been fed a lot of garbage, and lies, about God, and will awaken to a realization that patriarchy has destroyed your way of thinking and living. By learning to think and live as Julian did you will discover a more peaceful, and more realistic, connection with yourself, and especially with the Divine. What do you have to lose for if most of us were honest with ourselves we would discover we aren’t really happy with our lives anyway, and the way the world is functioning. Thank you Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox for another insightful read. Your words, and your work, has totally changed my life and for that I am grateful.

This book spoke to me and inspired 2 months’ worth of lessons I taught to my Sunday School class at my UMC church. Timely. Matthew Fox is a rare blessing to the planet!

Mathew Fox presents Julian in a very easy to understand format and it is delightful to read. She - and he - give timely advice for the days ahead!

It is the wisdom of Julian reflecting on how she lived during a pandemic and what she did about it. We need a need new "normal" and not living the same way as before. We need to change or this world will not survive.

I really enjoyed this book, it is so lucid and clear about Julian of Norwish and the unique feminine approach to life and nature. As it says at the end "Julian is the vaccine". This book changed my whole perspective and is a delight to read.

When this book arrived, I thought I may have bought a commentary or text book. Upon reading, I found it well written, sensitive; with great insights and extra information.

Matthew Fox gives a succinct summary of the creation spirituality and non dualism that Julian’s writings contain. We need a new normal in our pandemic laced culture and frozen Christianity.

Well written, inspiring read. Opened up a rounded understanding of Julian of Norwich and how radical and impactful her collection of showings are.

The bias and bent of Matthew Fox and his worldview are not what I was looking for in a book of Julian of Norwich. I don't need to have Julian's lessons and illuminated thoughts from a time long gone overlaid on what Matthew Fox thinks. Admittedly, this is the first Matthew Fox book I have purchased so it may be that this is what people are looking for. I was looking to learn more about Julian of Norwich without Matthew's personal opinions and political bent. It's like a disappointing, over-narrated documentary when you just want to tell the filmmaker to zip it already and let us learn from who we are here to learn from. I will look to other authors and sources to deepen my understanding of this beautiful soul.