TheJourney of Perpetual Departure
The Journey of Perpetual Departure
hidden from us. However, as Julian affirms in her chapter 85 towards the end of the revelations, when "we are all brought up above" we shall no longer say that if only things had been different back on earth then it would have been well. Rather "we shall all say with one voice: Lord, blessed may you be, because it is so, it is well; and now we see truly that everything is done as it was ordained by you before anything was made."
Another dimension of Julian's eschatological vision is also that she was informed about two great deeds that God will do but which we are not shown in our present lives because we could not fully comprehend them.
In that sense, as I noted in Chapter 5, there is an apophatic, incomplete, and open‐ended quality to Julian's overall theology. This applies also to her eschatological vision of ultimate reality that goes beyond the conventional imagery of heaven and hell.
The first deed appears in chapter 32 and is broadly based. It is a deed which "the blessed Trinity" will carry out "on the last day." It was ordained by God "from without beginning" and is known only to God because it is beyond our human capacity to grasp. However, through this broadly based deed God will make "everything well which is not well." However,
Julian notes that this deed of making everything well, apparently without exception, appears to conflict with "the faith of Holy Church." This faith conventionally asserts that "many creatures will be damned" – the fallen angels (now devils), pagans, and those Christians who "die out of God's love" because they have led unchristian lives and have not repented. By implication this deed will be at the end of time.
In contrast, the second deed appears in chapter 36 and is more personally orientated. As Julian puts it, "it will be honourable and wonderful and plentiful, and it will be done with respect to me." However, by "me"
Julian is clear that this also applies to "all his lovers on earth," "men in general," or "all who will be saved." This second deed will be "begun here" and we will all see it "with wonderful joy" when "we come to heaven."
From the way Julian talks about this second deed, it appears to bridge the gap between an experience of individual salvation and the ultimate act by God of making all things well at the end of time. In Julian's words, "it will go on operating until the last day" even though its honor and bliss "will last in heaven before God and all his saints eternally."
The Journey of Perpetual Departure As we have already seen, Julian notes at the start of her final chapter 86 that "this book is begun by God's gift and his grace, but it is not yet performed, as I see it." By their very nature the revelations received by Julian have an open‐ended quality. The twentieth‐century Welsh priest‐poet