THE SECOND DISCLOSURE ~ THE WONDER OF LOVE
after Julian of Norwich, The Visions of Love and Longing
THE SECOND DISCLOSURE ~ THE WONDER OF LOVE
after Julian of Norwich, The Visions of Love and Longing
God wills to be seen and to be sought: to be abided by and trusted. Here we behold the wonder of love, the wonder of passion— not as the world teaches, but as Heaven reveals: a suffering so radiant it transfigures pain into glory. Even in the darkness of our own affliction, there is Christ’s pain, not separate, but shared. Not imposed, but offered. Released from the source of humanity’s misperceptions, we come to see— through our own eyes— with bodily sight: a face upon the crucifix shining forth, beseeching our response. When our wisdom is sightless, when vision fails, yet still we seek, and still we are sought— held in an aspect of graciousness. Love opens our belief, a flame in the hollowness where knowing falters and sorrow deepens. The thorn-crowned crucifix bleeds—not drops, but rivers. Julian saw it run as though it would never cease— a river of grace spilling into time, through a thousand wounds and through one divine will. And yet, we abide—abide in Christ, as Christ abides in us. Our highest desires are revealed in splendor and mystery—not apart from suffering, but within it. And in that gaze— that terrible, tender gaze— we are made whole. WITHIN THIS VISION There are two workings—like breath and stillness: the soul that seeks, and the soul that beholds. The seeking—it is given to all, a grace within grace. We are called to seek earnestly, with hands unwearied, with hearts unburdened by vain sorrow. We are called to abide in love— steadfast, even in silence, even when heaven waits, and we hear nothing at all. We are called to trust mightily— a full and assured faith that He will appear suddenly, blissfully, to all who love Him. And so the soul learns to wait— without murmur, to love without ceasing, to believe beyond its knowing. These are the ways God wills to be seen— in seeking, in beholding, in becoming His own.
At the Still Point: In Conversation with Saint Julian is available from these retailers.
Bookshop.org
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Lehmanns (DE Germany)
Betterworld Books
The Nile (New Zealand)
Official Release Date: June 30, 2025.
The Wonder of Love
There’s something about poetry that slows you down. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t flash. It does what great liturgy does: it whispers something so true that you forget your hurry and hold your breath. “The Second Disclosure ~ The Wonder of Love” is one of those rare poems that invites stillness—not for its own sake, but because God is near.
This is not a poem about love in the way we’ve been taught to expect it. It’s not a sonnet for a sweetheart or a sermon on sentimentality. This is love that bleeds. This is love on a crucifix. This is love that "shines forth, beseeching our response."
And here lies the wonder: not that love exists, but that it persists. Not that Christ suffered, but that he suffers with — not separately, but as companion. The poem does not turn away from pain. It presses into it, and in doing so, transfigures it into revelation.
“Not as the world teaches, but as Heaven reveals:
a suffering so radiant it transfigures pain into glory.”
These lines feel like they were written in a chapel just after vespers, when the candlelight is flickering low and all that’s left is silence and the presence of God. They take us beyond the world’s story of love — which is usually about possession or escape — and into the Gospel’s version, which is about presence and surrender.
✨ The Theological Heart: A Love That Bleeds
Julian of Norwich, the mystic who inspired these disclosures, once described Christ as our “mother.” A mother who suffers to bring us to birth. That spirit is alive in this poem. Christ is not lofty, aloof, or idealized. He is “thorn-crowned,” “bleeding,” and deeply intertwined with our condition. The blood here is not grotesque. It’s not morbid. It is, astonishingly, described as a river of grace.
“Julian saw it run as though it would never cease—
a river of grace spilling into time,
through a thousand wounds
and through one divine will.”
This is the kind of imagery you don’t rush past. You let it land. And when it does, you realize this isn’t just about Jesus. It’s about you. About all of us. Because love, if it is truly divine, suffers with. And if it is truly redemptive, it doesn’t eliminate sorrow — it inhabits it.
There’s theology here, yes. But it’s a theology that breathes. A theology that holds mystery more than it defines truth. Which is, perhaps, the only kind worth writing poems about.
🔍 The Structure of Vision: Seeking and Beholding
The second half of the poem, “WITHIN THIS VISION,” shifts gears — not in tone, but in focus. If the first half offers the vision of Christ crucified in radiant love, the second half turns toward us: the seekers, the sufferers, the ones who wait.
“There are two workings—like breath and stillness:
the soul that seeks, and the soul that beholds.”
Here the poet names the two sides of spiritual life: the ache of longing and the grace of reception. One reaches. The other rests. One strives. The other sees. But both are called “grace.” And both are given.
It’s a wise insight. Because so often we imagine the contemplative life as the reward for the seeking life—but here, the two are coexistent. Seeking is not less holy than beholding. It is, in fact, one of the very ways God is made known.
There’s something deeply pastoral in that. A comfort for those who feel far from God. A gentle assurance that silence is not absence. That to wait without murmur, to love without ceasing, to believe beyond one’s knowing — this, too, is revelation.
📖 Faith Beyond Knowing
“We are called to trust mightily—
a full and assured faith that He
will appear suddenly, blissfully,
to all who love Him.”
This is the gospel of patience. The gospel of abiding. It is a truth not easily preached in a culture that prefers resolution over reverence, outcomes over openness. But the poem dares to say what the mystics knew and what Christ taught with his life: that God’s appearing is not always predictable, but it is always faithful.
Faith, in this vision, is not certainty. It’s not clarity. It is love that keeps watch at the window even when no figure appears on the horizon. It is prayer without answers, waiting without signs, love without return — until suddenly, there is joy.
🕯 Final Word: The Wonder We Behold
What The Second Disclosure makes clear is that divine love is not clean. It is not tidy. It is terrible and tender all at once. It bleeds. It beckons. It bears. And through it, we are made whole — not by escaping sorrow, but by seeing God within it.
This poem is not a theological argument. It is a spiritual icon. A window into the kind of love that can only be known in silence, in longing, and in being held.
At the end, you’re left with the stillness of mystery. The ache of beauty. And maybe, if you’re lucky, the quiet joy of knowing that you, too, are sought.
“These are the ways God wills to be seen—
in seeking, in beholding,
in becoming His own.”
And what a wonder it is to be held in such love.
Praise for At the Still Point: In Conversation with Saint Julian by poet Ron Starbuck
In reading these “poetic meditations” on Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love, I found myself repeatedly having to stop—to both ponder and pray. The beauty and profundity of Starbuck’s poetry reword Julian’s central message: “Of how all things, No matter how small, Are held in being by the kindness of God.”
~ Paul Knitter
Paul Tillich, Emeritus Professor
of Theology and Religions,
Union Theological Seminary.
Ron Starbuck's lovely, prayerful poems gently open us to the power of Christ's passion —the tender and transforming awakening of love's deepest purpose within each of us. In these graceful and grace-filled words, we find a balm for the broken soul, healing for the weary and wounded spirit. I found myself inspired, uplifted, and affirmed with each divine disclosure. Read this beautiful book and draw near to Christ. Pray this book and draw nearer still.
~ William B. Miller
The Gospel According to Sam
The Beer Drinker's Guide to God
The Last Howlelujah
At the Still Point: In Conversation with Saint Julian is available from these retailers.
Bookshop.org
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Lehmanns (DE Germany)
Betteworld Books
The Nile (New Zealand)
Official Release Date: June 30, 2025.
Available on Saint Julian Press Bookshop.org
Saint Julian Press, Inc. © 2025
