ALL gardeners know the importance of good root development before we force the leaves and flowers. So our life in God should be deeply rooted and grounded before we presume to expect to produce flowers and fruits; otherwise we risk shooting up into one of those lanky plants which can never do without a stick.… Continue reading Wednesday in Holy Week: Union with God – Evelyn Underhill
THERE is no lesson Christ loves better to drive home, than this disconcerting fact of our common human fragility: which, when we have truly grasped it, kills resentment and puts indulgent pity in its place. Let the man, the group, the nation that is without sin cast the first stone. God’s forgiveness means the compassionate… Continue reading Tuesday in Holy Week: Forgiveness – Evelyn Underhill
HIS Spirit comes to us, as Caussade said, in “The Sacrament of the Present Moment.” Joy and pain, drudgery and delight, humiliation and consolation, tension and peace – each of these contrasting experiences reaches us fully charged with God; and does, or should incite us to an ever more complete self-giving to God. But each… Continue reading Monday in Holy Week: Abasement and Adoption – Evelyn Underhill
IN his letter to the Romans, we find Saint Paul asking his converts if they realize what it means to be part of the Church. It means, he says {and we can imagine their surprise when they heard it}, being received into the death of Christ – the unconditional sacrifice of the Cross – in… Continue reading Palm Sunday: Cross and Church – Evelyn Underhill
“Though I give my body to be burned,” said Saint Paul, “and have not love, I am nothing.” I do not as a supernatural being exist. And now he gives us another and much more surprising test of spiritual vitality. Though you feel an unconquerable love, joy and peace, though you are gentle, long-suffering, good… Continue reading Saturday of the Fifth Week in Lent: Meekness, Temperance – Evelyn Underhill
The Carpenter's Nail 