God and the Dawn Treader

The Dawn Treader: God’s Ship on the Sea of Life

**Today with Julian – November 20th:

I saw most certainly that all the good works God has done,
or ever shall do,
were completely known to Him and foreseen
from without beginning,
and for love He made humankind,
and for the same love He Himself was willing to be human.

(Mother Julian, Chapter LVII)

If we let it, the assertion “there is no doer but He” can be the most difficult and confusing of all Julian’s ideas. How can the bad things, the horrible things, that happen in life be done by God?

Julian always gives us hints of her reasoning in her very careful choice of words. In this passage: “all the good works,” and “for love.”

There is God’s doing, which is good and for love. It was determined by Him from without beginning, and is carried out without wavering until the end of the ages. It is the purpose, the trajectory, the ultimate meaning of creation. And only God does this, and it is only good.

Then there is the stuff people do. Hopefully most of the time this is in accord with God’s doing. Sometimes it is not. And there is the stuff that nature does, which sometimes is in accord with God’s doing, and sometimes it is just things that happen when natural forces interact.

But the doing that counts, the doing that gives hope and meaningfulness to it all, is God’s predetermined and eternally purposed Doing. And of that, “There is no Doer but He.” In otherwords, Julian says, that which is the purpose and meaning of the universe is done by God alone, and thus done in love. And it is therefore dependable and worthy of our trust.

It is as if He made the ship well, and drew the map perfectly, and guides the rudder and sails through history. Tempests may come, may sometimes overwhelm for a time. But the one who built, and planned, and guides is no one but God. And He lovingly made us and put us on deck, and took our flesh upon Himself so that He might stand at the wheel. And we can depend upon this ultimate meaning, because God is the Doer of it, and it is done in love.

Thus are we called to have a God-centered focus for our lives.

(Heartfelt thanks to my trusted spiritual friend who helped me see this.)

~ Will, ObJN