The Call to Respond: Deepening the Journey with Evelyn Underhill
Holy Tuesday carries a sense of deepening. The sharp edges of Holy Week become clearer. We are no longer at the gates of Jerusalem; we are moving closer to the heart of mystery. This is a good day to walk with Evelyn Underhill, who had a remarkable gift for making the mystical life feel both profound and practical.
Underhill wrote often about surrender, prayer, and the soul’s response to divine love. For her, the spiritual life was never about escape from the world. It was about becoming fully available to God within it. That makes her a wonderful voice for Holy Tuesday, a day that invites us to stop skimming the surface and enter more deeply into love’s demands.
One of Underhill’s most consistent insights was that God is always initiating. God is always calling, always drawing us closer. The question is not whether God is present. The question is whether we are willing to respond.
That feels especially relevant during Holy Week. Jesus is moving steadily toward the cross, not as a victim of random events, but in loving faithfulness to his mission. Holy Tuesday reminds us that love is not vague. Love takes shape in choice, sacrifice, and fidelity.
Underhill might encourage us to ask where God is inviting a more wholehearted yes from us. Not a dramatic yes, necessarily. Often the holiest responses are quiet ones: patience in difficulty, courage in uncertainty, tenderness in strained relationships, trust in the middle of unanswered questions.
Mysticism can sometimes sound distant or lofty, but Underhill brings it close. She reminds us that the spiritual life is, at its core, a life of attention and response. To love God is to keep saying yes, even when the road ahead is not fully clear.
Holy Tuesday can be a day for that kind of gentle courage. We may not see everything, but we can still respond to the light we have. We can still choose love. We can still remain open.
Reflective questions:
Where do I sense God inviting me into a deeper yes?
What quiet act of faithfulness is being asked of me right now?
How can I become more attentive to God’s presence in ordinary moments?
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