9/7/23 "Religion Reconsidered" with Jack Fernon. In honor of the 650th Anniversary of the Revelations of Julian of Norwich, I was interviewed at length by Jack Fernon for his podcast: Religion Reconsidered. I delved deep into many aspects of Julian's life and mystical Revelations. I hope you will enjoy viewing the program. It's available on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify, or you may listen to the audio podcast on Podbean.com. Here's the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaAbdyHOBUo
PLEASE SHARE with family and friends
PLEASE SHARE with family and friends
6/3/23 JUNE JULIAN LECTURE: "Alle Shalle Be Wele": Living Resurrected Lives.
I was honored to be invited to give the June Julian Lecture in Norwich (via Zoom) to celebrate the 650th Anniversary of The Revelations of Julian of Norwich. My talk focused on exploring the deeper meanings of the words -- "Alle shalle be wele" -- that Julian heard Christ speak to her during her visions. Too often, these words are used as a quick "fix" for all our troubles. That is not their essential meaning. However, if we understand their mystical dimension, these words can become a powerful source of courage and hope in our daily struggles, inspiring us to live as sons and daughters of the resurrection, even now!
Here's the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ABmHvDpUs&t=2452s
Please share with family and friends
I was honored to be invited to give the June Julian Lecture in Norwich (via Zoom) to celebrate the 650th Anniversary of The Revelations of Julian of Norwich. My talk focused on exploring the deeper meanings of the words -- "Alle shalle be wele" -- that Julian heard Christ speak to her during her visions. Too often, these words are used as a quick "fix" for all our troubles. That is not their essential meaning. However, if we understand their mystical dimension, these words can become a powerful source of courage and hope in our daily struggles, inspiring us to live as sons and daughters of the resurrection, even now!
Here's the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ABmHvDpUs&t=2452s
Please share with family and friends
5/8/23 "One on One" with Robert Ellsberg, Publisher of Orbis Books.
This year marks the 650th Anniversary of the Revelations of Julian of Norwich. There have been glorious celebrations, lectures, art installations, and liturgies, as well as retreats and pilgrimages to Julian's reconstructed anchorage in Norwich. I was delighted to be interviewed by Robert Ellsberg, esteemed publisher of Orbis Books and my first book on Julian entitled Julian's Gospel: Illuminating The Life & Revelations of Julian of Norwich. It was a very special "One on One" sharing of the Tenth Anniversary of that award-winning publication. Hope you enjoy our half hour conversation! Here's the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb4TbTNeQ1s
Please share with family and friends!
This year marks the 650th Anniversary of the Revelations of Julian of Norwich. There have been glorious celebrations, lectures, art installations, and liturgies, as well as retreats and pilgrimages to Julian's reconstructed anchorage in Norwich. I was delighted to be interviewed by Robert Ellsberg, esteemed publisher of Orbis Books and my first book on Julian entitled Julian's Gospel: Illuminating The Life & Revelations of Julian of Norwich. It was a very special "One on One" sharing of the Tenth Anniversary of that award-winning publication. Hope you enjoy our half hour conversation! Here's the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb4TbTNeQ1s
Please share with family and friends!
Interview with Veronica Mary Rolf:
1) Q: What compelled you to write Suddenly There is God: The Story of Our Lives in Sacred Scripture?
A: Suddenly There is God grew out of my lifelong passion for sacred Scripture and decades of study and meditation. In fact, the overall concept for the book came to me one morning in meditation as pure gift: I realized—suddenly!—that the Bible not only tells the stories of the Creation and Fall, of Noah and the Flood, of people like Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the Israelites, and of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also paints the entire arc of the story of our lives—our long and sometimes circuitous spiritual journey from birth to childhood, to adolescence, to young adulthood, to maturity, to aging, to death, and to resurrection. This is a totally new way of interpreting biblical stories.
2) Q: Why did you title your book Suddenly There is God?
A: We have all had the experience of praying for guidance in making a decision, or for much-needed help in a time of crisis, and then, suddenly—when we least expected it—receiving the inspiration or consolation we needed. Whether we read about the calls of Abraham and Moses, or Mary, Joseph, and the disciples, we realize that Divine Presence always arrives or intervenes suddenly in sacred Scripture. May we not also assume that, just as in Genesis, Exodus, the Psalms, and the Gospels, God is suddenly (and sometimes dramatically) “breaking in” to our own life story?
3) Q: What distinguishes Suddenly There is God from other books on Scripture?
A: Because of an imaginary line that separates “scholarship” and “spirituality” into distinct disciplines, biblical criticism does not address the immediate spiritual relevance of the texts to the reader’s personal life; thus there is a subsequent loss of integration between what academics reveal about the cultural and theological content of scriptural texts and what spiritual writers wish to convey about the transformative power of these texts. What distinguishes Suddenly There is God is that it thoroughly integrates biblical scholarship and contemplative spirituality for both the academic and popular reader. Such an unusual combination opens up new possibilities for understanding Scripture as a dynamic encounter with characters in life-critical situations, and—at the same time—outlines a contemplative path for the reader. As far as I know, there is also no other book on the market that identifies the arc of Hebrew and Christian Scriptures as the consecutive stages of growth that recount the story of our lives. I believe this unique combination will make Suddenly There is God a potential stand-out in the field of scriptural spirituality.
4) Q: Is Scripture still able to “speak” to us in the twenty-first century?
A: For some people, biblical stories may seem too archaic, too difficult to identify with, too familiar, or totally irrelevant to our lives in a tortured, angry world, in our divided churches, as well as in our family crises. To challenge this negative viewpoint, I take a dramatic approach that will plunge the reader into the divine-human conflicts of sacred Scripture and reveal their unavoidable relevance. If we are able to personalize the stories of biblical characters—relating them directly to our own lives just as we do when experiencing a film or play—then we may more easily hear God’s voice speaking through them to us, here and now, in whatever life situation we may find ourselves. I believe that this fresh, daring, and highly dramatic approach can make Scripture become spiritually nourishing, empowering—and yes, extremely relevant—in our lives.
5) Q: What is your “dramatic approach” to sacred Scripture?
A: Just as an actor does extensive research to absorb the historical setting and culture of a play, then uses imagination and emotional identification in order to personalize a character’s conflicts and choices, so I employ some of these same techniques to immerse readers in the drama of Scripture. I investigate historical and cultural context, create the circumstances of time and place, examine complexities of character, explore relationships, and expose conflicts. Through this approach, author and reader collaborate in a grand experiment to enter into the sacred texts so that we might experience them in a more personal way—imaginatively, emotionally, and spiritually—as if for the first time.
6) Q: Your two previous award-winning books--An Explorer’s Guide to Julian of Norwich (IVP Academic, 2018) and Julian’s Gospel (Orbis, 2013)—focused on the Revelations of a medieval mystic. In addition to your scholarly research for this project, what prepared you to write Suddenly There is God?
A: Actually, my former career as a professional actress, playwright, artistic director, and master teacher of dramatic arts! I have spent most of my life delving into the historical/cultural context and deeper subtext of scripts to get “under the skin” of a wide variety of characters in order to perform them, write them, or direct others in making them come alive. I used this lifelong technique to uncover and interpret hidden resonances in Julian’s Middle English text. Like play or film scripts, biblical stories are a series of scenes—often with spoken dialogue—that reveal character motivation, divine-human conflict, the full gamut of emotions, as well as startling moments of revelation. Scripture is after all, a collection of sacred scripts.
7) Q: You write and blog about mysticism and also lead contemplative retreats. Is this a book for those interested in mysticism?
A: Most certainly! In addition to dramatizing the biblical stories, I offer contemplative practices and thought experiments through which readers may grow more acutely aware of the ways in which Divine Presence suddenly “breaks in” to challenge, guide, warn, and grace us. Once we open our minds and hearts to meditate reflectively on the meaning of the scriptural dramas as they pertain to the story of our lives, we may realize that revelations made long ago to biblical characters are being made in new and startling ways to us, right now. Then we may live, no matter the current circumstances, with a more impassioned faith, hope, and love.
8) Q: How will this book help readers develop a more personal relationship with God through sacred Scripture?
A: Throughout our exploration of the biblical stories, we seek to reclaim an attitude of what I call “ardent expectation” as a vibrant but often neglected aspect of our faith. Without this hope-filled attitude, we may forget why we worship, why we pray, why we serve others, and why we hold fast to an ancient canon of belief that, in our postmodern secular world, may seem utterly irrelevant. Through reflection and a contemplative practice, we may become more aware of the ways in which God is speaking to us—personally and unmistakably—in sacred Scripture, as well as through the rich diversity of people, places, and events in our daily lives. Thus we become more expectant that, just as it was for the biblical characters, every stage of our lives is filled with the astounding presence of God.
9) Q: What do Old and New Testament voices have to say to a twenty-first century reader?
A: If we are willing to believe that God once intervened in biblical history to rescue the Israelites through mighty deeds, then, through the practice of contemplative prayer, we may discover that this self-revelatory God still delights in speaking to us today in analogous ways. And if we believe that in the fullness of time the Son of God was born in the flesh and blood of a human being in order to teach, forgive, heal, die on a cross, and rise in glory that we might also be raised to eternal life, then we may rightfully assume that the Gospels tell the story of God’s ongoing love affair with us.
10) Q: What audiences do you think will respond to Suddenly There is God?
A: Suddenly There is God will be a valuable resource for clergy, counselors, teachers, seminarians, and students who desire a dramatic, theologically grounded, and contemplative approach to sacred Scripture. It will also appeal to spiritual seekers of all ages who long to experience the drama of sacred Scripture as deeply personal revelation. It is written in an engaging style, designed to reach a broad audience. Always, the narrative highlights the ever-present reality of God’s unconditional love and mercy. I believe that this intensely dramatic and highly spiritual encounter can be life-changing.
1) Q: What compelled you to write Suddenly There is God: The Story of Our Lives in Sacred Scripture?
A: Suddenly There is God grew out of my lifelong passion for sacred Scripture and decades of study and meditation. In fact, the overall concept for the book came to me one morning in meditation as pure gift: I realized—suddenly!—that the Bible not only tells the stories of the Creation and Fall, of Noah and the Flood, of people like Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the Israelites, and of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also paints the entire arc of the story of our lives—our long and sometimes circuitous spiritual journey from birth to childhood, to adolescence, to young adulthood, to maturity, to aging, to death, and to resurrection. This is a totally new way of interpreting biblical stories.
2) Q: Why did you title your book Suddenly There is God?
A: We have all had the experience of praying for guidance in making a decision, or for much-needed help in a time of crisis, and then, suddenly—when we least expected it—receiving the inspiration or consolation we needed. Whether we read about the calls of Abraham and Moses, or Mary, Joseph, and the disciples, we realize that Divine Presence always arrives or intervenes suddenly in sacred Scripture. May we not also assume that, just as in Genesis, Exodus, the Psalms, and the Gospels, God is suddenly (and sometimes dramatically) “breaking in” to our own life story?
3) Q: What distinguishes Suddenly There is God from other books on Scripture?
A: Because of an imaginary line that separates “scholarship” and “spirituality” into distinct disciplines, biblical criticism does not address the immediate spiritual relevance of the texts to the reader’s personal life; thus there is a subsequent loss of integration between what academics reveal about the cultural and theological content of scriptural texts and what spiritual writers wish to convey about the transformative power of these texts. What distinguishes Suddenly There is God is that it thoroughly integrates biblical scholarship and contemplative spirituality for both the academic and popular reader. Such an unusual combination opens up new possibilities for understanding Scripture as a dynamic encounter with characters in life-critical situations, and—at the same time—outlines a contemplative path for the reader. As far as I know, there is also no other book on the market that identifies the arc of Hebrew and Christian Scriptures as the consecutive stages of growth that recount the story of our lives. I believe this unique combination will make Suddenly There is God a potential stand-out in the field of scriptural spirituality.
4) Q: Is Scripture still able to “speak” to us in the twenty-first century?
A: For some people, biblical stories may seem too archaic, too difficult to identify with, too familiar, or totally irrelevant to our lives in a tortured, angry world, in our divided churches, as well as in our family crises. To challenge this negative viewpoint, I take a dramatic approach that will plunge the reader into the divine-human conflicts of sacred Scripture and reveal their unavoidable relevance. If we are able to personalize the stories of biblical characters—relating them directly to our own lives just as we do when experiencing a film or play—then we may more easily hear God’s voice speaking through them to us, here and now, in whatever life situation we may find ourselves. I believe that this fresh, daring, and highly dramatic approach can make Scripture become spiritually nourishing, empowering—and yes, extremely relevant—in our lives.
5) Q: What is your “dramatic approach” to sacred Scripture?
A: Just as an actor does extensive research to absorb the historical setting and culture of a play, then uses imagination and emotional identification in order to personalize a character’s conflicts and choices, so I employ some of these same techniques to immerse readers in the drama of Scripture. I investigate historical and cultural context, create the circumstances of time and place, examine complexities of character, explore relationships, and expose conflicts. Through this approach, author and reader collaborate in a grand experiment to enter into the sacred texts so that we might experience them in a more personal way—imaginatively, emotionally, and spiritually—as if for the first time.
6) Q: Your two previous award-winning books--An Explorer’s Guide to Julian of Norwich (IVP Academic, 2018) and Julian’s Gospel (Orbis, 2013)—focused on the Revelations of a medieval mystic. In addition to your scholarly research for this project, what prepared you to write Suddenly There is God?
A: Actually, my former career as a professional actress, playwright, artistic director, and master teacher of dramatic arts! I have spent most of my life delving into the historical/cultural context and deeper subtext of scripts to get “under the skin” of a wide variety of characters in order to perform them, write them, or direct others in making them come alive. I used this lifelong technique to uncover and interpret hidden resonances in Julian’s Middle English text. Like play or film scripts, biblical stories are a series of scenes—often with spoken dialogue—that reveal character motivation, divine-human conflict, the full gamut of emotions, as well as startling moments of revelation. Scripture is after all, a collection of sacred scripts.
7) Q: You write and blog about mysticism and also lead contemplative retreats. Is this a book for those interested in mysticism?
A: Most certainly! In addition to dramatizing the biblical stories, I offer contemplative practices and thought experiments through which readers may grow more acutely aware of the ways in which Divine Presence suddenly “breaks in” to challenge, guide, warn, and grace us. Once we open our minds and hearts to meditate reflectively on the meaning of the scriptural dramas as they pertain to the story of our lives, we may realize that revelations made long ago to biblical characters are being made in new and startling ways to us, right now. Then we may live, no matter the current circumstances, with a more impassioned faith, hope, and love.
8) Q: How will this book help readers develop a more personal relationship with God through sacred Scripture?
A: Throughout our exploration of the biblical stories, we seek to reclaim an attitude of what I call “ardent expectation” as a vibrant but often neglected aspect of our faith. Without this hope-filled attitude, we may forget why we worship, why we pray, why we serve others, and why we hold fast to an ancient canon of belief that, in our postmodern secular world, may seem utterly irrelevant. Through reflection and a contemplative practice, we may become more aware of the ways in which God is speaking to us—personally and unmistakably—in sacred Scripture, as well as through the rich diversity of people, places, and events in our daily lives. Thus we become more expectant that, just as it was for the biblical characters, every stage of our lives is filled with the astounding presence of God.
9) Q: What do Old and New Testament voices have to say to a twenty-first century reader?
A: If we are willing to believe that God once intervened in biblical history to rescue the Israelites through mighty deeds, then, through the practice of contemplative prayer, we may discover that this self-revelatory God still delights in speaking to us today in analogous ways. And if we believe that in the fullness of time the Son of God was born in the flesh and blood of a human being in order to teach, forgive, heal, die on a cross, and rise in glory that we might also be raised to eternal life, then we may rightfully assume that the Gospels tell the story of God’s ongoing love affair with us.
10) Q: What audiences do you think will respond to Suddenly There is God?
A: Suddenly There is God will be a valuable resource for clergy, counselors, teachers, seminarians, and students who desire a dramatic, theologically grounded, and contemplative approach to sacred Scripture. It will also appeal to spiritual seekers of all ages who long to experience the drama of sacred Scripture as deeply personal revelation. It is written in an engaging style, designed to reach a broad audience. Always, the narrative highlights the ever-present reality of God’s unconditional love and mercy. I believe that this intensely dramatic and highly spiritual encounter can be life-changing.
|
Award-winning author Veronica Mary Rolf introduces us to the fourteenth century mystical theologian, Julian of Norwich, who became the first woman to write a book in the English language. Her words, “All shall be well,” echo through the ages. Her message of God’s unconditional love and mercy is one we need to hear.
Julian of Norwich is an inspiring voice for our time. An Explorer’s Guide to Julian of Norwich is available at InterVarsity Academic Press (www.ivpress.com/an-explorer-s-guide-to-julian-of-norwich) and at www.amazon.com/gp/product/0830850880/ Please join the over 8500 members of the Julian of Norwich Group on Facebook. All are welcome! |