A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly

I am reading this book: A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly again. It is a collection of four "talks" he gave towards the end of his life. I don't know how many times I have read it since I found this book in Hastings a few years ago. Kelly was a Quaker and a teacher at Haverford College in Philadelphia. He died in his late 40's very suddenly around the middle of last century.

The way he "speaks" in these talks is full of such life and insight. I am going to be writing some about this book as I read through it again. But, you'll do better just reading it for yourself. Four chapters: The Inner Light; Holy Obedience; The Blessed Community; the Eternal Now.

I wonder how open I would have been to Kelly's writing when I was younger. I didn't really start reading much of what would be called writings about "spirituality" until I was in my 40's. When I was in college,seminary and after, I was into the "hard stuff." Theology, philosophy of religion, Biblical interpretation, and some church history and ethics. I thought people who wrote and talked about spirituality all the time were people who avoided the prophetic core of the Gospel and were afraid to feel the push of faith into areas of injustice. Kelly's last of four talks (the eternal now and social concern) just breaks through all of these questions and illuminates a path of real holiness right in the midst of life.

I'll continue about Kelly's book next time.

This writing seems like a sacred writing to me. It also carries with it a sense of power and liberation and holiness. I don't know how else to describe it.