by Thomas R. Kelly
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Product Description
Since its first publication in 1941, A Testament of Devotion, by the renowned Quaker teacher Thomas Kelly, has been universally embraced as a truly enduring spiritual classic. Plainspoken and deeply inspirational, it gathers together five compelling essays that urge us to center our lives on God's presence, to find quiet and stillness within modern life, and to discover the deeply satisfying and lasting peace of the inner spiritual journey. As relevant today as it was a half-century ago, A Testament of Devotion is the ideal companion to that highest of all human arts-the lifelong conversation between God and his creatures. I have in mind something deeper than the simplification of our external programs, our absurdly crowded calendars of appointments through which so many pantingly and frantically gasp. These do become simplified in holy obedience, and the poise and peace we have been missing can really be found. But there is a deeper, an internal simplification of the whole of one's personality, stilled, tranquil, in childlike trust listening ever to Eternity's whisper, walking with a smile into the dark."
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Deep calls to deep amidst the roaring waterfalls!, 2008-07-27
The Testament of Devotion is a gentle invitation to slip into the divine centre amidst the whirlwinds of competing demands, incessant noise, superficial crowds and breathless hurry. Thomas Kelly, a Quaker writes as one who has stumbled upon the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price for which he would trade everything for - a life that grows out of an inner place of calm, peace, clarity and centredness. This divine centre, this inner peace is available to all who would pause and breathe deep and slip gently into it. It does not require the straining of the intellect, or elaborate rituals but humble obedience - a surrender to the 'Hound of Heaven' that offers us this gift of quiet, trust and rest. This place is where you learn to trust the Creator, the Savior and the world's true Lord and know that all is well, all manner of things is well.
What we have here is a distillation of Quaker spirituality where the doctrine of the Inner Light of Christ can be realized in the lives of ordinary people and not just the super saints in all the routine and vagaries of modern living - a simple, gentle book that has the power to change us from deep inside. Be warned!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
The Antidote for Frantic Fidelity, 2008-03-26
"The problem we face today needs very little time for its statement. Our lives ... grow too complex and overcrowded ... in frantic fidelity we try to meet at least the necessary minimum of calls upon us. But we're weary and breathless. And we know and regret that our life is slipping away ... in guilty regret we must postpone till next week that deeper life of unshaken composure in the holy Presence, where we sincerely know our true home is, for this week is much too full" (89-90).
Originally published by Quaker author Thomas Kelly in 1941, these words from A Testament of Devotion have never been more applicable than today. We live in a time of unprecedented complexity and confusion. Our high tech culture is obsessed with novelties, gadgets and an endless variety of "time-saving" electronic devices. The world has never known a society with more leisure time on its hands, and yet, we are among the most chronically exhausted, stressed-out people on the planet. There must be a better way!
"For over the margins of life comes a whisper, a faint call, a premonition of richer living which we know we are passing by ... we have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power. If only we could slip over into that Center!" (92).
Thankfully, the author offers hope for those of us who continue to struggle against the forces that would keep us from "slipping over into that Center" of Divine Love, out of which we are enabled to love others as we have been loved by God. The hope Kelly offers us can be found not only in the words he writes, but in the life he, and others, lived. Citing the examples of prominent Quakers such as George Fox and John Woolman, Kelly highlights those traits that set these spiritual leaders apart as passionately devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
The greatest insight for me, however, came through my reading of the biographical memoir written by Kelly's close friend and colleague, Doug Steere, which is attached to the end of the book. Here we discover that living out of the Divine Center came late in life for this intellectually restless, professionally ambitious, Harvard-trained, Quaker scholar. According to Steere, the pivotal event took place sometime in the autumn of 1937, during which time "a new life direction took place in Thomas Kelly. No one knows exactly what happened, but ... a fissure in him seemed to close, cliffs caved in and filled up a chasm, and what was divided grew together within him" (118). A year later, following a summer visit among Friends in Germany, Kelly himself testified to Steere, "It is wonderful. I have been literally melted down by the love of God" (120).
Could it be that each of us is not so different from Thomas Kelly, not to mention George Fox, John Woolman and every other prominent spiritual leader who has gone before us? Could it be that the quickest way to the Divine Center is to recognize and renounce our tendency to live on the fringe of God's purpose for our lives? Could it be that the only way for the spiritual fissures in our lives to close is by allowing the retaining walls we have built up around our souls to cave in? Could it be that the best antidote for "frantic fidelity" is a "holy meltdown"?
Thomas Kelly's A Testament of Devotion is a nugget of solid gold, carefully refined in the furnace of God's purifying love. As such, it issues a call for each of us to surrender our own lives to this same holy fire, with deep confidence that the One who melts and molds us is utterly trustworthy and has our best interest in mind. In the process, we are relieved from the burden of "frantic fidelity" and we can find rest for our weary souls as we recognize that it is God's work, not ours, that will stand the test of time:
"Thus we have begun to live in guidance. And [we] find He never guides us into an intolerable scramble of panting feverishness ... for after all God is at work in the world. It is not we alone who are at work in the world, frantically finishing a work to be offered to God ... we need not get frantic. He is at the helm. And when our little day is done we lie down quietly in peace, for all is well" (100).
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Pure Essence of Spirituality - Condensed Quaker Belief, 2006-08-02
I read this book 25 years ago and find that it gives me a feeling of the Inner Light and grounds me in what the spiritual life is all about. It is deeply Christian and yet can resonate with anyone who feels God as a living reality in all religions or no religion. It also touches upon what the Quakers call "consensus", how to let the guiding of the Spirit lead people into an understanding filled agreement about how to live, to heal, and to forgive. I have read other Quaker books, but it seems everything is here in this book. It uses less words than all the others and says everything.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Inner Peace, 2006-05-05
What a beautiful book!! It you are into contemplative prayer, or have devoted a significant part of your life to meditation on God's purpose and direction, this book summarizes your life. Kelly has an amazing ability to describe the joys of inner peace, sifting the things of the world beyond through the sieve of the world within. Inspirational and delightful - enjoy.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
humbling, 2006-02-19
Not many books cause me to want to be quiet and small. Welcome to reading Thomas Kelly's A Testament of Devotion. Simple, profound Kelly invites us to an inner journey into the presence of the holy. Words fail-buy it
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