All Is Well
This is a year of pandemic, recession, protests, riots, bitter contest, and division. This also happens to be the year that began with my decision to read works by mystics and contemplatives. I’m sharing here a prayer, an insight, a well-springing of goodness in faith, the heart of which started to beat as I was lying crippled up and immobilized, as usual, on my bed.
Upon waking…
As long as You are God and I am Your beloved creature,
all is well.
As long as You love me with the fullness of Your divinity and the fullness of Your humanity, my Lord and Savior, holding me in Your Sacred Heart,
all is well.
As long as Your Spirit remains within me,
all is well.
No matter how often I may forget, neglect, or reject Your Presence, as long as I let You return me to the knowledge that You have made me in Your own divine image for the sole purpose of giving and receiving divine love,
all is well.
As long as I love You for Yourself by loving my fellow human beings as You mercifully, selflessly, eternally love us,
all is well.
As long as my guardian angel speaks louder and more convincingly than the forces that would take me away from You,
all is well.
As long as I let You love me,
all is well.
No matter the evil that may be done around me nor the evil that may be done to me, no matter the pain and sorrow that I may suffer nor the pain and sorrow that my loved ones may suffer, as long as You and Your all-powerful love remain, as long as Your holy, positive, perfect, ordained will ultimately triumphs, fulfilling the promise of eternal blessings for those who love,
all is well.
As long as You, who are Truth, are true; as long as You, who are Fidelity, are faithful; as long as You, who are Mercy, are merciful; as long as You, who are Love, are loving; and for as long as You, who are Eternity, are eternal,
all is well.
I am Yours.
All is well.
Let me live in Your peace with no end but You.
Amen.
© 2020 Christina Chase
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Christina Chase View All
Although crippled by disease, I'm fully alive in love. I write about the terrible beauty and sacred wonder of life, while living with physical disability and severe dependency. A revert to the Catholic faith through atheism, I'm not afraid to ask life's big questions. I explore what it means to be fully human through my weekly blog and have written a book: It's Good to Be Here, published by Sophia Institute Press.
Christina Chase 
Christina, I enjoyed what you write: “as long as I let You return me to the knowledge that You have made me in Your own divine image for the sole purpose of giving and receiving divine love.” God created us in His image so that we can receive His love and give back to Him our love. How often we forget this. I appreciate you reminding us all of this.
Have you read anything about Medieval Woman Mystics such as Hadewijch of Brabant, Mechtild of Magedeburg or Hildegard of Bingen? The imagery of God’s love from these women mystics make Him very appealing. It truly is a love relationship, a “Divine Dance,” we have been brought into isn’t it?
Again, I enjoyed your article. Thanks for sharing it.
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I just finished reading St. Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love! She was a medieval mystic, reportedly the first woman writing in the English language to have a book published. (From that book: “All will be well and all will be well and every manner of thing will be made well.” Yet, interestingly, I wrote the title of this particular reflection before I read the book or knew about this quote.) I was delighted to find that St. Julian speaks the language of humility and “sacred wonder,” as I write about in my book, when she describes “holy joy.”
Having read St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Catherine of Siena earlier this year, I am now reading The Cloud of Unknowing. My discovery is that I am not drawn so much to “nuptial mysticism,” but rather to nonmarital symbols of divine love (though still symbols of union), like that of the beloved child or creature, or of becoming “another Christ” as St. Catherine describes. Wasn’t St. Gertrude the Great friends with one of the women you mentioned? I learned about her just the other day, on her feast day, and thought about learning more. Do you have a favorite of the three you listed?
Thank you very much for reflecting with me!
Pax Christi
Christina
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Christina, I appreciate your response. I replied earlier but I think I did something wrong because it didn’t post. I too like Catherine of Siena. I like Therese of Lisieux. Though she never had mystical experiences like other mystics (Elizabeth of the Trinity also never had mystical experiences), she had a deep love and desire for Christ, which I think is the longing and the true experience of all Mystics. I think ordinary people will be able to relate to her and her love for Christ.
As for the three I had mentioned, I think it would be Hadewijch of Brabant. She was ten years old when she experienced the “sweetness” of God’s love. Through this experience she was drawn into an intimate relationship with the Lord. She spent the rest of her life pursing Christ, even when in later years she would no longer sense His Presence.
I like the nuptial or bridal love mysticism. The imagery of Jesus as being the Bride-Groom and the soul or believer being His bride is somehow appealing. Maybe it’s because it’s a relationship of the heart with the Divine Lover that is so captivating and I think we all long for as believers. Our love for Him should be as a bride’s love for her new husband. I think this is the reason I like the bridal imagery. Our relationship with God is really a love relationship. This concept is something that is sadly lacking in the church today (I speak as a Protestant believer).
As you wrote in your article, we were created in the divine image for the sole purpose of giving and receiving divine love. How wonderful that is! May you enjoy your Journey with the Mystics.
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I thank you very much for your thoughtful response! You have given Hadewijch of Brabant to me, and I will get to know her better now. I’m touched by the fact that her intimate encounter with the “sweetness” of God’s love was when she was still a child. That childlike love is what makes the story and devotion of St. Thérèse of Lisieux so humble, joyful, and compelling, don’t you think?
Nuptial mysticism is definitely rich with beauty and deep meaning. Think of the Song of Songs from the Bible! Recently, I was introduced to a group of faithful who are striving to live their lives in intimate connection with this truth of Divine Love, with Christ as the Bride-Groom. There is a prayer devotion (consecration) for women and men. Some of the resources in the group come from a Catholic understanding, but most of them are lowercase catholic, that is universal Christian. This is their site: https://hopesgarden.com/
Thank you again for your kindness and generosity in reaching out to me! May we all grow in divine loving, in intimate union with Christ,
Pax Christi
Christina
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Christina, thank you for introducing me to Hopes Garden. Looks very interesting and what I would enjoy reading. I did subscribe to it.
I agree with you about Therese of Lisieux. Her simple childlike love and devotion to her Bride-Groom is compelling and makes one want to have the same type of love for God. Therese wrote in her autobiography, “I know I am no more than a helpless little child, yet, my Jesus, it is my very helplessness which makes me dare to offer myself as a victim to Your love!” I hope that we can grow in that type of love for God as she experienced.
I look forward to reading your next post. Again, thank you for introducing me to Hopes Garden.
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