A Handful of Quiet

“All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well,” says Julian of Norwich, to which Madeleine L’Engle adds poignantly, “No matter what.”

And this morning I woke up to two coughing/congested kids, my lesson plans for tomorrow somehow deleted, vet appointments interrupting my school day, driving anxiety (those over passes, man), a major windstorm, and a broken vacuum cleaner.

Still: those words turn over in my mind as I mop, as I navigate my own emotional upheaval, as I pray for friends looking for houses, friends juggling jobs to make ends meet, friends facing health issues, friends doing everything they can to keep their kids from slipping through the cracks.

And there’s no miraculous fix being offered. At least not one that we are seeing right now. And even speaking those words to myself doesn’t guarantee a change of heart.

So how can those words ring true?

All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well…no matter what. But how?

I wrote a month or so ago about the three words that I’m taking into 2023 with me: God’s got this. These three words curl around and around in my soul alongside Julian of Norwich’s and Madeleine L’Engle’s…and then, as if in the distance, I see the flames of the fiery furnace, and I hear Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us...and he will…but if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods…”

Our God is able to deliver—and he will deliver—but if not…all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well…no matter what.

Because the handful of quiet we hold to our hearts is not everything working out the way we want it to. It’s not even everything working out the way we think we need it to.

The peace that surpasses all understanding is that Christ is near.

And behind that we remember: God loves us deeply and He sees far more than we see and His power is not limited. Nothing is impossible for Him. Therefore, even if we don’t get what we want, and yes, even if we don’t get what we think we need, it doesn’t mean that God does not “got this”.

No.

All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well…no matter what.

And this is the peace we carry with us. This is the handful of quiet.