He showed me a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, in the palm of my hand, and it was as round as a ball. I looked at it with my mind’s eye and I thought, “What can this be?” And the answer came, “It is all that is made. ” I marvelled that it could last, for I thought it might have crumbled to nothing, it was so small. And the answer came into my mind, “It lasts and ever shall because God loves it.” And all things have being through the love of God. In this little thing, I saw three truths. The first is that God made it. The second is that God loves it. The third is that God looks after it.
             –St. Julian of Norwich, The Revelations of Julian of Norwich 

God made me.
God loves me.
God looks after me.

The moment I think
I might crumble into nothing,
I am seen,
held,
protected.

The moment I find myself
thinking I’m alone–
that sacred moment when
I notice that
I’m forcing life 
into something it’s not,
thinking the world’s against me–
I remember
You’re right here
with me,
always
for me.

Then You pick me up out of my fear,
carry me close to Your chest,
and put me down again
safe and secure
in a world filled with love

May what I do flow from me like a river,
no forcing and no holding back,
the way it is with children.

Then in these swelling and ebbing currents,
these deepening tides moving out, returning,
I will sing you as no one ever has,

streaming through widening channels
into the open sea.

― Rainer Maria Rilke, I Believe in All that Has Never Yet Been Spoken

Credits and References:
Painting of Julian by Virginia Wieringa.
A World Filled with Love by Esther Hizsa, 2024.
“Milky Waters”10 mile creek, Buller Gorge, New Zealand by colin hansen. Used with permission.
 

© Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim, 2024.
The unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission from Esther Hizsa is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided there is a link to the original content and credit is given as follows: © Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim 2013-2024.  http://www.estherhizsa.com