“And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, ‘What may this be?’ And it was answered generally thus, ‘It is all that is made.’ I marvelled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God.
In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it.”
- Julian of Norwich in Revelations of Divine Love
This image of the hazelnut has struck me ever since I first encountered it in our spirituality module at college - a small thing, a seemingly insignificant thing - made by God, loved by God, kept by God. It reminds me that however I feel, however small, however insignificant, however lost in the moment, that I am made by God, loved by God, kept by God.... and that's what matters.
In the Dr Seuss book, which I only know really in the film 'Horton hears a who', a dust speck is dislodged from somewhere obscure and as it floats through the air, Horton (an elephant) hears a tiny voice shouting from it. Horton believes that a whole society of tiny creatures lives on that speck and so he makes it his mission to keep that tiny little world safe, so he seeks to find them the safest place in the jungle. Unfortunately the speck is stolen by the head of the jungle, Sour Kangaroo, who seeks to destroy it because Horton has disobeyed him. The film, fortunately, ends well for the creatures on the speck, and they are saved, a whole society living on a speck who had made enough noise to be heard by Horton as their world was rocked from the dislodging.
I love this image too - of Horton saving the tiny little world, of carrying it through chaos and uncertainty to be in a place where it is safe - he forgives the Kangaroo for trying to destroy it too, because he didn't know of the little tiny world on the little tiny speck.
The image, however, is lacking, because it depends on the noise of the citizens on the speck for them to be noticed..... and, unlike the hazelnut in Julian of Norwich's description, it is through its own effort that it finds its place in the universe.
As we journey through life, we often approach it like the society on the insignificant speck, shouting out and hoping that Horton the Elephant will hear our cries - or anyone - whatever it is out there - will rescue us.... we hope that if we shout loud enough someone will hear, we hope that if we shout loud enough things will change, we hope that if we make a big fuss the Sour Kangaroo will put us down and let us be so we can continue to live our lives in the way we want.
What the image of the hazelnut tells us, is that whatever is happening, however small or insignificant we feel, however much we feel like we are shouting into the abyss, however broken we feel - that actually, before anyone hears us, God, our loving and heavenly Father - he has us in his hand and he knows us; we are made by Him, we are loved by Him and we are kept by Him.
How beautiful and how marvellous is that? You, we, I - all of us - are that significant.
"You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me"
Psalm 139:1-5
In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it.”
- Julian of Norwich in Revelations of Divine Love
In the Dr Seuss book, which I only know really in the film 'Horton hears a who', a dust speck is dislodged from somewhere obscure and as it floats through the air, Horton (an elephant) hears a tiny voice shouting from it. Horton believes that a whole society of tiny creatures lives on that speck and so he makes it his mission to keep that tiny little world safe, so he seeks to find them the safest place in the jungle. Unfortunately the speck is stolen by the head of the jungle, Sour Kangaroo, who seeks to destroy it because Horton has disobeyed him. The film, fortunately, ends well for the creatures on the speck, and they are saved, a whole society living on a speck who had made enough noise to be heard by Horton as their world was rocked from the dislodging.
I love this image too - of Horton saving the tiny little world, of carrying it through chaos and uncertainty to be in a place where it is safe - he forgives the Kangaroo for trying to destroy it too, because he didn't know of the little tiny world on the little tiny speck.
The image, however, is lacking, because it depends on the noise of the citizens on the speck for them to be noticed..... and, unlike the hazelnut in Julian of Norwich's description, it is through its own effort that it finds its place in the universe.
As we journey through life, we often approach it like the society on the insignificant speck, shouting out and hoping that Horton the Elephant will hear our cries - or anyone - whatever it is out there - will rescue us.... we hope that if we shout loud enough someone will hear, we hope that if we shout loud enough things will change, we hope that if we make a big fuss the Sour Kangaroo will put us down and let us be so we can continue to live our lives in the way we want.
What the image of the hazelnut tells us, is that whatever is happening, however small or insignificant we feel, however much we feel like we are shouting into the abyss, however broken we feel - that actually, before anyone hears us, God, our loving and heavenly Father - he has us in his hand and he knows us; we are made by Him, we are loved by Him and we are kept by Him.
How beautiful and how marvellous is that? You, we, I - all of us - are that significant.
"You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me"
Psalm 139:1-5
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