Dear friends,

What do we do when we make a terrible misstep — offending others or God? Usually we act like Adam and Eve (Genesis 3): 

Now they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God. 

There is no real hiding from God, of course. To ​“hide” is to cower under a blanket of shame and fear while God stands nearby, longing to comfort and restore us. God longs for us to throw the blanket off, not to expose but to heal.

Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ​“Where are you?” 

If we only knew how God feels toward us, we would run to him with complete trust. 

This is one of the deep theological truths Julian of Norwich absorbed during the ​“showings” — a series of visions God gave her during an intense illness. She recorded the showings and her interpretations of them in her 14^th-century masterpiece, Revelations of Divine Love.

In an encore Renovaré Podcast episode, Mimi Dixon invites us to let Julian be our teacher — soaking in the truth that God’s deep love for us and his victory over sin ensure that ​“all shall be well” no matter the outward circumstances. 

Julian’s questions — about suffering, sin, our worth, and our wellbeing — are our questions. Jesus’ answers to her 650 years ago are answers for us. 

“No one need travel an unmarked path,” George Buttrick asserts. ​“The saints are our teachers — and other people, versed in prayer, who would be aghast to be called saints.”

Authentic followers of Jesus Christ — like Julian and countless others — guide us to the Teacher by sharing with us what they have learned.