Advent With Evelyn Underhill
86
Advent With Evelyn Underhill
86Paperback(First Edition Large Print)
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Overview
For generations, readers have found in the writings of Evelyn Underhill the guidance to help them deepen their own interior lives in the Christian mystical tradition. In this lovely volume, Anglican author and editor Christopher Webber has carefully selected inspirational passages from Underhill's most significant works, providing readings for every day of Advent and Christmas, and sharing the timeless treasure of Underhill's spiritual vision.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780819222213 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Church Publishing, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 09/01/2006 |
| Edition description: | First Edition Large Print |
| Pages: | 86 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d) |
About the Author
Christopher L. Webber, a graduate of Princeton Universityand the General Theological Seminary in New York, is an Episcopal priest who has led urban, rural, and overseas parishes. He is the author of several books, including Welcome to Christian Faith,Beyond Beowulf, and A Year with American Saints, co-authored with Lutheran Pastor G. Scott Cady. Webber grew up in Cuba, New York, and lives in San Francisco.
Read an Excerpt
Advent with Evelyn Underhill
By Christopher L. Webber
Church Publishing, Inc.
Copyright © 2006 Christopher L. WebberAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8192-2221-3
CHAPTER 1
November 27
Recognition and Expectancy
At the beginning of her course the Church looks out towards Eternity, and realizes her own poverty and imperfection and her utter dependence on this perpetual coming of God. Advent is, of course, first of all a preparation for Christmas; which commemorates God's saving entrance into history in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Whilst all things were in quiet silence and night was in the midst of her swift course:
thine Almighty Word leapt down from heaven out of thy royal throne. Alleluia.
A tremendous spiritual event then took place; something which disclosed the very nature of God and His relation to His universe. But there was little to show for it on the surface of life. All men saw was a poor girl unconditionally submitted to God's Will, and a baby born in difficult circumstances. And this contrast between the outward appearance and the inner reality is true of all the coming of God to us. We must be very loving and very alert if we want to recognise them in their earthly disguise. Again and again He comes and the revelation is not a bit what we expect.
So the next lesson Advent should teach us is that our attitude towards Him should always be one of humble eager expectancy. Our spiritual life depends on His perpetual coming to us, far more than on our going to Him. Every time a channel is made for Him He comes; every time our hearts are open to Him He enters, bringing a fresh gift of His very life, and on that life we depend. We should think of the whole power and splendour of God as always pressing in upon our small souls. "In Him we live and move and have our being."
For meditation: Whenever our hearts are open to Him He enters.
For prayer: Even so, come, Lord Jesus, and let our hearts be open to receive the life that you alone can give.
November 28
A Sense of Need
We should think of the whole power and splendour of God as always pressing in upon our small souls. "In Him we live and move and have our being." But that power and splendour mostly reach us in homely and inconspicuous ways; in the sacraments, and in our prayers, joys and sorrows and in all opportunities of loving service. This means that one of the most important things in our prayer is the eagerness and confidence with which we throw ourselves open to His perpetual coming. There should always be more waiting than striving in a Christian's prayer—an absolute dependence on the self-giving charity of God. "As dew shall our God descend on us."
As we draw near Christmas, this sense of our own need and of the whole world's need of God's coming—never greater perhaps than it is now—becomes more intense. In the great Advent Antiphons which are said in the week before Christmas we seem to hear the voice of the whole suffering creation saying "Come! give us wisdom, give us light, deliver us, liberate us, lead us, teach us how to live. Save us." And we, joining in that prayer, unite our need with the one need of the whole world. We have to remember that the answer to the prayer was not a new and wonderful world order but Bethlehem and the Cross; a life of complete surrender to God's Will; and we must expect this answer to be worked out in our own lives in terms of humility and sacrifice.
If our lives are ruled by this spirit of Advent, this loving expectation of God, they will have a quality quite different from that of conventional piety. For they will be centred on an entire and conscious dependence upon the supernatural love which supports us; hence all self-confidence will be destroyed in them and replaced by perfect confidence in God. They will be docile to His pressure, and obedient to every indication of His Will.
For meditation: All self-confidence [must be] replaced by perfect confidence in God.
For prayer: Come! Give us wisdom, give us light, deliver us, liberate us, lead us, teach us how to live. Save us.
November 29
Starting Out
Everyone who is engaged on a great undertaking, depending on many factors for its success, knows how important it is to have a periodical stocktaking. Whether we are responsible for a business, an institution, a voyage, or an exploration—even for the well-being of a household—it is sometimes essential to call a halt; examine our stores and our equipment, be sure that all necessaries are there and in good order, and that we understand the way in which they should be used. It is no good to have tins without tin openers, bottles of which the contents have evaporated, labels written in an unknown language, or mysterious packages of which we do not know the use.
Now the living-out of the spiritual life, the inner life of the Christian—the secret correspondence of his soul with God—is from one point of view a great business. It was well called "the business of all businesses" by St. Bernard; for it is no mere addition to Christianity, but its very essence, the source of its vitality and power. From another point of view it is a great journey; a bit-by-bit progress, over roads that are often difficult and in weather that is sometimes pretty bad, from "this world to that which is to come." Whichever way we look at it, an intelligent and respectful attitude to our equipment—seeing that it is all there, accessible and in good condition, and making sure that we know the real use of each item—is essential to success. It is only too easy to be deluded by the modern craving for peace and immediate results, and press on without pausing to examine the quality and character of our supplies, or being sure that we know where we are going and possess the necessary maps. But this means all the disabling miseries of the unmarked route and unbalanced diet, and at last, perhaps, complete loss of bearings and consequent starvation of the soul.
For meditation: [Be] sure that we know where we are going.
For prayer: Make us, Lord God, deeply aware of the task before us and our need for guidance on the way.
November 30
Spiritual Life: Begin with Objective Fact
The spiritual life is a stern choice. It is not a consoling retreat from the difficulties of existence; but an invitation to enter fully into that difficult existence, and there apply the Charity of God and bear the cost. Till we accept this truth, religion is full of puzzles for us, and its practices often unmeaning: for we do not know what it is all about. So there are few things more bracing and enlightening than a deliberate resort to [some basic] statements about God, the world and the soul; testing by them our attitude to those realities, and the quality and vigour of our interior life with God. For every one of them has a direct bearing on that interior life. Lex credendi, lex orandi. Our prayer and belief should fit like hand and glove; they are the inside and outside of one single correspondence with God.
Since the life of prayer consists in an ever-deepening communion with a Reality beyond ourselves, which is truly there, and touches, calls, attracts us, what we believe about that Reality will rule our relation to it. We do not approach a friend and a machine in the same way. We make the first and greatest of our mistakes in religion when we begin with ourselves, our petty feelings and needs, ideas and capacities. The Creed sweeps us up past all this to God, the objective Fact, and His mysterious self-giving to us. It sets first Eternity and then History before us, as the things that truly matter in religion; and shows us a humble and adoring delight in God as the first duty of the believing soul. So there can hardly be a better inward discipline than the deliberate testing of our vague, dilute, self-occupied spirituality by this superb vision of Reality.
For meditation: Delight in God [is] the first duty of the believing soul.
For prayer: Open our eyes, Lord God, to the reality of your presence in our world and our lives.
December 1
Shut the Door
Now Christ, who so seldom gave detailed instruction about anything, did give some detailed instruction for that withdrawal, that recollection which is the essential condition of real prayer, real communion with God.
"Thou when thou prayest, enter into thy closet—and shut the door."
I think we can almost see the smile with which He said those three words: and those three words define what we have to try to do. Anyone can retire into a quiet place and have a thoroughly unquiet time in it—but that is not making a Retreat! It is the shutting of the door which makes the whole difference between a true Retreat and a worried religious weekend.
Shut the door. It is an extraordinary difficult thing to do. Nearly every one pulls it to and leaves it slightly ajar so that a whistling draught comes in from the outer world, with reminders of all the worries, interests, conflicts, joys and sorrows of daily life.
But Christ said Shut, and He meant Shut. A complete barrier deliberately set up, with you on one side alone with God and everything else without exception on the other side. The voice of God is very gentle; we cannot hear it if we let other voices compete. Our ordinary life, of course, is not lived like that and should not be; but this bit of life is to be lived like that. It is no use at all to enter that closet, that inner sanctuary, clutching the daily paper, the reports of all the societies you support, your engagement book and a large bundle of personal correspondence. All these must be left outside. The motto ... is God Only, God in Himself, sought for Himself alone.
The object... is not Intercession or self exploration, but such communion with Him as shall afterwards make you more powerful in intercession; and such self-loss in Him as shall heal your wounds by new contact with His life and love.
For meditation: We cannot hear [God's voice] if we let other voices compete.
For prayer: Grant me a spirit of silence, Holy God, and an ability to shut out competing voices so that I hear your voice clearly and your voice alone.
December 2
Patience
Christ never seems at first sight to be giving pure truth; yet in the end He is the only teacher who manages to give it in a way that feeds souls of every level and type. Wherever He comes, He brings the life-giving mystery of God: but giving the mystery in and with the homeliness, weaving together both worlds.
What a lesson for us! And especially for those who have a secret arrogant craving for what they call "purely spiritual things." There is nothing abstract or high-brow about Him. To all He gives parables capable of simple interpretation and to some revelations within them of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no overfeeding or straining of souls and, above all, no hurry to enlighten at all costs everyone He can reach. What a great supernatural art that is—that quiet, humble patience; whether of those who teach or of those being taught. Whichever class we think we are in, we are all studying under the quiet eye of God; and we have got to learn the artist's pace, never to hurry or scramble or lose our breath, yet never to wait too long; to put on a good primary coat and let it dry in spite of our eagerness to get on with the picture before the inspiration fades; the only result of which is a sticky mess.
Christ seems so often content to prepare souls by one great revealing truth and then just leave grace to act, to fertilize, to bring forth, to give light with that easy generosity and not ask about results. To leave it to God, to make no effort to harvest one's own corn and say, "See what a lot of sheaves I have brought in!"—that asks for a self-oblivion which is very near the Cross.
For meditation: We have to learn the artist's pace.
For prayer: Let me be content, Lord Jesus, to allow your grace to work in me calmly and quietly and at a pace that seems good to you.
December 3
Humility
Humility and moderation at the heart of our prayer quiet the soul and protect us against the spiritual itch. "It sometimes comes into my head" says De Caussade, "to wonder whether I have ever properly confessed my sins, whether God has ever forgiven me my sins, whether I am in a good or bad spiritual state. What progress have I made in prayer or the interior life? When this happens I say to myself at once, God has chosen to hide all this from me, so that I may just blindly abandon myself to His mercy. So I submit myself and adore His decision.... He is the Master: may all that He wills be accomplished in me; I want no grace, no merit, no perfection but that which shall please Him. His will alone is sufficient for me and that will always be the measure of my desires." Meekness and temperance taught out of his own experience by a very great master of the spiritual life. In your soul's life towards God, then, that humble moderation has, or should have, an important place and many special applications. It is far better to realize a few truths, produce a few acts of worship, but do them well, leaving to others those truths and those practices which for you are dark or involve strain. Do not entertain the notion that you ought to advance in your prayer. If you do, you will only find out you have put on the brake instead of the accelerator. All real progress in spiritual things comes gently, imperceptibly, and is the work of God. Our crude efforts spoil it. Know yourself for the childish, limited and dependent soul you are. Remember that the only growth that matters happens without our knowledge and that trying to stretch ourselves is both dangerous and silly. Think of the Infinite Goodness, never of your own state. Realize that the very capacity to pray at all is the free gift of the divine love and be content with St. Francis de Sales' favourite prayer, in which all personal religion is summed up: "Yes, Father! Yes! and always Yes!"
For meditation: All real progress in spiritual things comes gently, imperceptibly.
For prayer: Help me to remember, Holy God, that my prayer is your gift and that I need no other prayer than the one you have given.
December 4
Discipline
All normal men and women possess, at least in a rudimentary form, some intuition of the transcendental; shown in their power of experiencing beauty or love. In some it is dominant emerging easily and without help; in others it is latent and must be developed in the right way. In others again it may exist in virtual conflict with a strongly realistic outlook; gathering way until it claims its rights at last in a psychic storm. Its emergence, however achieved, is a part—and for our true life, by far the most important part—of that outcropping and overflowing into consciousness of the marginal faculties which is now being recognized as essential to all artistic and creative activities; and as playing, too, a large part in the regulation of mental and bodily health.
All the great religions have implicitly understood—though without analysis—the vast importance of these spiritual intuitions and faculties lying below the surface of the everyday mind; and have perfected machinery tending to secure their release and their training. This is of two kinds: first, religious ceremonial, addressing itself to corporate feeling; next the discipline of meditation and prayer, which educates the individual to the same ends, gradually developing the powers of the foreconscious region, steadying them, and bringing them under the control of the purified will. Without some such education, widely as its details may vary, there can be no real living of the spiritual life.
For meditation: Without discipline there can be no real spiritual life.
For prayer: Help me, Holy God, to bring my life under your control with a plan and pattern that reminds me of your presence and makes me more responsive to your will.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Advent with Evelyn Underhill by Christopher L. Webber. Copyright © 2006 Christopher L. Webber. Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing, Inc..
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Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction
November 27: Recognition and Expectancy
November 28: A Sense of Need
November 29: Starting Out
November 30: Spiritual Life: Begin with Objective Fact
December 1: Shut the Door
December 2: Patience
December 3: Humility
December 4: Discipline
December 5: Intimations of Spiritual Depths
December 6: A Plan of Life
December 7: God's Agents in the Real World
December 8: Spiritual Life
December 9: A Job to Be Done
December 10: Centering
December 11: Evil and Reality
December 12: Facing Reality as Baptized Christians
December 13: Christ Changes Circumstances
December 14: Corporate Life and Mysticism
December 15: Centrality of Prayer
December 16: Spiritual Life Begins with Prayer
December 17: Prayer Is Central
December 18: Prayer Gives Our Lives Focus
December 19: Life of Prayer
December 20: The Focus of Prayer
December 21: Contemplation
December 22: Love in Creation
December 23: Love Is an Orientation toward God
December 24: The Vision of Love
December 25—Christmas Day: Incarnation and Childhood
December 26—ST. Stephen: Incarnation
December 27: Maturing
December 28—Holy Innocents: The Example of the Christ Child
December 29: Incarnation
December 30: Nativity
December 31: Life Goes On
January 1—HOLY NAME: Born for a Purpose
January 2: Shepherds and Magi
January 3: The Magi
January 4: The Magi and Prayer
January 5: Light of the World
January 6—The Epiphany: The Magi and New Birth
References