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Wednesday 15 June 2022

Go into a room by yourself - and shut the door

Here's the reflection I shared in the service of Holy Communion held at St Andrew's Wickford this morning:

One of the stories from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers goes like this: A brother went to Abba Moses to ask for a word of advice on living the monastic life. Moses replied, “Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.”

Today the Church remembers Evelyn Underhill who, from the mid-1920s onwards, became highly-regarded as a retreat conductor and an influential spiritual director. Evelyn Underhill’s first experience of a conducted retreat at the Pleshey retreat house in 1922 transformed her attitude toward church and vocation, and began the process of clarifying her own calling. She then returned the compliment as it is largely due to Evelyn that the Pleshey Retreat house became so popular.

Evelyn Underhill was born on 6th December 1875 in Wolverhampton. From an early age she described having mystical insights, and her deep interest in spiritual matters continued throughout her life. Between 1921 and 1924 her spiritual director was Baron Friedrich von Hűgel, who encouraged her to place Jesus Christ more centrally at the heart of her reflections. After his death in 1925 she began taking on a prominent role in the Church of England, leading retreats at Pleshey and elsewhere, and as a spiritual guide to many. Amongst the books she published are ‘Mysticism’ (in 1911) and ‘Worship’ (in 1936). She was one of the first women theologians to give public lectures at English universities, and was the first woman allowed officially to teach Church of England clergy.

Evelyn Underhill is one of the most important Christian mystics of the twentieth century and was one of the first important figures to champion the humility, ordinariness, and indeed “normalcy” of the mystical life. The subtitle of one of her best books, ‘Practical Mysticism’ is “A Little Book for Normal People.” She worked hard to dispel the notion that mysticism only belonged to the super-holy, the super-religious, the super-pious. On the contrary, the contemplative life is the ordinary state for Christian maturity. (http://evelynunderhill.org/three-evelyn-underhill-anthologies/)

In her book on The Fruits of The Spirit, she wrote about today's Gospel passage (Matthew 6.1-6, 16-18) in relation to retreats:

“Christ, who so seldom gave detailed instruction about anything, did give some detailed instruction of that … recollection which is the essential condition of real prayer, real communion with God.

"When you pray, go into a room by yourself - 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 … the shutting of the door …

Shut the door. It is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do. Nearly everyone 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. It is no use at all to enter that room, 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 object … is not intercession or self-exploration, but such communion with Him as shall afterwards make you more powerful in intercession; such self loss in Him as shall heal your wounds by new contact with His life and love.”

Evelyn Underhill was writing specifically for retreatants but Jesus’ words were not originally addressed to those on retreat. Instead, they were addressed to ordinary people going about their everyday lives, so his call to shut the door when praying was not once a year when we are on retreat but each time we pray. Likewise, seeking the opportunity of being alone with God and attending to God in order that we may do His will better in our everyday lives is not intended by Jesus as a once a year opportunity, rather as a regular experience. The distractions Evelyn Underhill notes in relation to retreats, are also with us each time we pray. We need to face them each time we pray, not just once a year on retreat. Jesus said, ‘whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.’ The result will be, as Evelyn Underhill wrote, ‘real communion with God.’

That is essentially why Abba Moses said, “Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.”

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