86. "Love was our Lord's Meaning" (The Sixteenth Revelation - That the Blissful Trinity, our Maker, in Christ ...) (Revelations of Divine Love) (Julian of Norwich)

THIS book is begun by God's gift and His grace, but it is not yet performed, as to my sight.

For Charity pray we all; [together] with God's working, thanking, trusting, enjoying. For thus will our good Lord be prayed to, as by the understanding that I took of all His own meaning and of the sweet words where He says full merrily: I am the Ground of your beseeching. For truly I saw and understood in our Lord's meaning that He showed it for that He wills to have it known more than it is: in which knowing He will give us grace to love Him and cleave to Him. For He beholds His heavenly treasure with so great love on earth that He wills to give us more light and solace in heavenly joy, in drawing to Him of our hearts, for sorrow and darkness which we are in.

And from that time that it was shown I desired oftentimes to learn what was our Lord's meaning. And fifteen years after, and more, I was answered in ghostly understanding, saying thus: Would you learn your Lord's meaning in this thing? Learn it well: Love was His meaning. Who showed it you? Love. What showed He you? Love. Wherefore showed it He? For Love. Hold you therein and you shall learn and know more in the same. But you shall never know nor learn therein other thing without end Thus was I learned that Love was our Lord's meaning.

And I saw most surely that before God made us He loved us; which love was never slacked, nor ever shall be. And in this love He has done all His works; and in this love He has made all things profitable to us; and in this love our life is everlasting. In our making we had beginning; but the love wherein He made us was in Him from without beginning: in which love we have our beginning. And all this shall we see in God, without end.