Revelation of Love

From The Revelation of Love by Julian of Norwich:

I understood this revelation to teach our soul to cling fast to the goodness of God. At the same time, I remembered all the different ways we are accustomed to pray and how busy we become when we lose sight of how God loves us. For I was persuaded at this time that what pleases God, what delights him most, is when we pray simply trusting in his goodness, holding on to him, relying upon his grace, with true understanding, rather than if we made all the means that heart can think. Even when we summon all such skills, we are bound to fall short; all we need to do is trust in God's own goodness, for this will never fail us...

For just as the body is clad in clothes and the flesh in skin and the bones in flesh with the heart in the breast, so are we, soul and body, clothed and wrapped around in the goodness of God. Yet it is even more intimate than this; because they all disappear once they decay. But the goodness of God is always whole and more near to us without any comparison. It is true that our Lover desires the soul to stay close to him with all its strength, clinging ever more tightly to his goodness. Of all things the heart may think, this pleases God the most and affords us much progress. Our soul is loved so preciously by him, our highest good, that it is beyond all human understanding. In truth, no human alive can fathom how much, how sweetly and tenderly, our Maker loves us. And so we are able by the help of his grace to stay beholding in prayer this lofty, surpassing, and immeasurable love that almighty God has toward us of his goodness.