Martin Luther, a sixteenth-century monk, and a deeply pious man, led Christ’s Church into the Protestant Reformation. The collection of conversations he had with his students, entitled Table Talk, includes this quote about praying with ceasing as we are commanded in scripture. Martin Luther tells us that even the busiest of us can bolster our […]

The twentieth-century lecturer, researcher and writer, Evelyn Underhill, while a noted academic, was also well-known for her personal insights and devotional life. In her book, The Essentials of Mysticism, she encourages us to apply diligence and a single-minded determination to our spiritual growth, specifically in the area of prayer. Ms. Underhill applies the metaphor of […]

Sadhu Sundar Singh, in his book, With and Without Christ, tells this parable of a scientist searching for the source of life in the body of a bird. In the story, a logical and scientific approach to understanding such a profound mystery did not serve the scientist well. Here Sundar aptly illustrates that purely physical […]

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne had been outcast by the town and forced to wear the scarlet letter “A” on her clothing because of an adulterous affair. Although her reputation seemed ruined forever, a life of kindness and service, over a number of years, had changed the attitudes of her neighbors […]

Andrew Marvell, in this excerpt from his poem A Dialogue between the Soul and the Body, illustrates the struggle of an eternal soul entrapped in mortal flesh. Marvell describes this soul as being overwhelmed by the physical senses, distracted by the otiose thoughts of a carnal mind, and led astray by a deceitful heart. Here […]