Emily Rose Meditations

What might it look like for us to be pleased with, comforted by, grateful for, Christ’s gift of salvation? What might it change in your daily rhythms to keep this gift and the pleasure he hopes it brings us in the front of our minds and our actions? This is inspired by the twenty-third chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyh...

Easter Sunday, God tells us (of Jesus), “We are his joy, we are his reward, we are his glory, we are his crown.” Sit with these words today, let them wash over you, let them sink in to your heart and melt into your bones. What might God reveal to you in chewing on this vision? This is inspired by the twenty-second chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conve...

On Holy Saturday, the world holds its breath. But the only way to keep plodding along is to keep breathing. We cannot hold the heaviness we each carry, and so we must surrender our weights to God, breath by breath, every step of the way. We can only hope and trust that God will carry it for us. This is inspired by the twenty-first chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Lov...

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ, remembered on this day, struck at the very heart of the existence of Jesus Christ; Jesus lived in his flesh the question of whether God and man could be together always. God promised never to leave or abandon humanity, his beloved creation, and this event at the fulcrum of history tested the truth and the power of that covenant. This is inspired by the twentieth ch...

Julian reflects on the inward and outward battles we fight, for her, “outward” is of-the-flesh – desires that might tempt or taunt us – “inward” is the conscious decisions and dwelling of our spirits and souls. She asserts that our outward battles are just the fiends heckling us, while our inward battle, what we choose to believe and then to follow with our actions and course of life – that is the...

Turning her attention to those who witnessed Jesus’ suffering on the cross in his Passion, Julian reminds us that all creation is thrown off-kilter by the death which is the fulcrum of history, remembered this week across the globe. This is inspired by the eighteenth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

Warning: There are graphic descriptions of blood and dying flesh in this passage. Julian continues to describe Jesus’ death on the cross, and we are called to consider our participation in it. This is inspired by the seventeenth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

Warning: There are graphic descriptions of blood and dying flesh in this passage. Julian has a vision of Jesus’ body dying on the cross, and reflects on the agony of Christ’s suffering. This is inspired by the sixteenth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

Julian taken on a roller coaster in today’s revelation, shunted from joy to sorrow and back again – and again and again. She understands from this that her feelings are not something to stake her faith on, and they don’t even determine whether God is pleased with her, or whether she’s in a state of grace. Feelings just are feelings, and they pass away. But, she argues, joy remains. This is inspire...

I wonder what it’d be like to hand around little scraps of heaven, passing moments of glory from one to another. How might that change our communities and the world? This is inspired by the fourteenth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

Consider how the Passion (the time from when Jesus was praying in the garden, through when he’s brought before the courts, condemned to die, carries his cross through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha, is then nailed to that cross outside the city wall, and finally dies) is somehow the truest revelation of this ancient God that has ever been seen by humanity. This is inspired by the thirteenth...

Warning: there’s a lot of description of Jesus’ blood in the passage today, listener beware! Is our world a place of scarcity or of abundance? Which is the truth, and how do we live into that truth? This is inspired by the twelfth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

Our vision is much more myopic than we can ever realize, so what do we do with our faulty eyes and funhouse vision? How do we trust that God’s vision is better? This is inspired by the eleventh chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

This one’s a whole sermon! Julian pulls back the curtain (wink wink) on her vision, how she came to understand its meaning, and how she suggests we might apply it to our own lives. She refers to a “holy vernicle at Rome” which we know today as Veronica’s Veil, a sacred object held at the Vatican in Julian’s time. This is inspired by the tenth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations o...

Julian addresses why she thinks she was given these visions, and how we might take the honor she’s been given (Hint: if we’re concerned about why she got visions, we’re asking the wrong question). This is inspired by the ninth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

It’s not only Julian, of course, who reflects a special facet of God’s image, but each one of us. What does God have to reveal in each of us, what do we have to share with one another? What might we help others polish and uncover and turn even more toward the Light of love? This is inspired by the eighth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at...

The Long Text provides even more detail and depth than Julian had when she had just experienced the visions; time provided more fodder rather than making details fuzzy or fade away. I wonder if our interactions with God might have the same quality. This is inspired by the seventh chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

When the doubt-fiends circle, Julian gives us an example of how we might respond. Her own words echo litanies that are threaded through books of prayer over the centuries. Perhaps we might take on this practice for ourselves, with our very own witnesses to God’s action. This is inspired by the sixth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patr...

Julian very openly speaks of the temptations she faces in the midst of these revelations, even as God is showing her the most intimate things about himself that she could imagine. Today she offers a phrase that might also give us power, a prayer: “God, of your goodness, give me yourself.” This is inspired by the fifth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the c...

This God’s math has always been different than usual human understanding. How might this consistent mystery ethic inform the way we approach our everyday lives? This is inspired by the fourth chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Join the conversation at patreon.com/emilyhylden

As Julian lies dying, she longs to receive all the rites of “Holy Church,” to become as close as possible to being one with God, according to her understanding of faith and theology. Is there an analogous experience, ritual, or event for each of us? What might it be? Would we want to undergo it? This is inspired by the third chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Love. Joi...

Can you imagine peeling back the layers of your longing, like an onion? It takes attention, perseverance, courage, for sure. Then, what do you get to, at bottom? I wonder if it might be something similar to Julian’s longing. I wonder if they might be the same longings echoed through many human hearts. This is inspired by the second chapter of Julian of Norwich's long text, Revelations of Divine Lo...

Often, in practicing meditation, there’s a moment when we wake up to ourselves – when we realize our mind has been wandering, and we’re invited to come back to the breath, or to our intention, or whatever it is that we’re using to help our minds settle. The outline here of the revelations that Julian shares might serve as that mindful bell, that invitation to come back to our intention in this pra...

Now we dig deep -- we really move slowly, examining each rock and bit of moss on the trail of God's visions given to Julian. She revisits her revelations years later after chewing on them herself in prayer and contemplation for (perhaps) decades, and invites us to come with her again. I'm opening up a space on my patreon website for comments, reflections, and sharing by this community on each chap...

In this last chapter of Julian’s short text, she frames her revelations through the lens of fear. Throughout God’s showings to her and in his voice he is always calling her out of counterfeit fear, out of shadow and darkness and despair, till all that is left for her and for us is reverent fear, which Julian identifies as rest, comfort, and love. This is inspired by the twenty-fifth chapter of Jul...