May 12, 2023

Evelyn Underhill

When my dad was alive, he liked to tell people I was the least likely person he had ever known to go into the ministry. I observe something similar with regard to people I encounter in the church. Some of the least likely people become committed Christ followers while some of the more obvious candidates for faith never take it seriously.
Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) could surely be classified as an unlikely Christian disciple. She was raised by parents indifferent to religion and had no formal religious training. She was agnostic in her early years, yet she also sensed the divine in ways she couldn’t explain. She dabbled in the occult before coming to faith after a trip to Italy and visit to a convent. She became a leading voice for spiritual renewal in both Catholic and Anglican circles. She was the first woman to speak to an assembly of Anglican bishops. She led retreats and earned a reputation as an accomplished spiritual director. A letter was found recently among Evelyn’s papers that she sent to the archbishop of Canterbury (leader of the Anglican communion), “People are hungry for God,” she insisted, “not for institutional religion.” She then commented on “the poor and shabby quality of the priests’ inner life.” She ended with an indictment on leading clergy of her day, “Their Christianity as a whole is humanitarian rather than theocentric.” Gutsy words! Since the church’s problems were primarily spiritual, not organizational, she counseled that what the church needed most was greater spiritual fervor and love for God. It was a shot over the bow for church leaders to cultivate an intentional life of prayer. Tell me? Did she write this letter in 1930 or to our time?

She prays with similar courage in today’s prayer:

Give me, O Lord, I beseech you, courage to pray for light and to endure the light here,
where I am in this world of yours,
which should reflect your heart, but which we
have spoiled and exploited.
Cast your radiance in the dark places,
these crimes and stupidities I like to ignore and gloss over.
Show up in my pretensions, my poor little claims and
achievements, my childish assumptions of importance,
my mock heroism.
Take me out of the confused half-light in which I live.
Enter and eradicate every situation and every relationship.
Show me my opportunities, the raw material of love,
of sacrifice, of holiness, laying at my feet,
disguised under homely appearance,
and only seen as it truly is, your light.

Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.