A number of years ago, I read Thomas R. Kelly‘s A Testament of Devotion. I read it at the suggestion of a friend. As I recall at that time, there was some turmoil going on in both my life and ministry. I was grateful for anything that would help me deal with life.
I think such works really are best read not in an effort to be more "spiritual" but as a normal human being who is desiring to keep God at the center of all things. Perhaps you read the interview with Eugene Peterson in Christianity Today (March 2005) entitled "Spirituality for all the Wrong Reasons." At one point in the interview he said,
I’ve been a pastor most of my life, for some 45 years. I love doing this. But to tell you the truth, the people who give me the most distress are those who come asking, "Pastor, how can I be spiritual?" Forget about being spiritual. How about loving your husband? Now that’s a good place to start. But that’s not what they’re interested in. How about learning to love your kids, accept them the way they are?
This is what reading someone like Kelly does for me. Such works help me with the ordinary moments of life. Loving my wife. Dealing with work. Wrestling with motives. If you have not read Kelly, listen for a moment as he speaks about living with God at the center in everyday life. The following are a few brief lines from A Testament of Devotion:
Much of our acceptance of multitudes of obligations is due to our inability to say No. We calculated that the task had to be done, and we saw no one ready to undertake it. We calculated the need, and calculated our time, and decided maybe we could squeeze it in somewhere. But the decision was a heady decision, not made within the sanctuary of the soul….
…Life from the center is a life of unhurried peace and power. It is simple. It is serene. It is amazing. It is triumphant. It is radiant. It takes no time, but it occupies all our time. And it makes our (lives) new and overcoming. 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.
I have been musing on a similar thing, regarding Peterson’s thoughts. We have a big push right now in Christendom towards spirituality (as evidenced in a growing body of spiritual disciplines books), but couldn’t it be that we hunger for fulfillment because we simply aren’t living regular life in ways that resonate with our God-given nature?
L.L.,I like the way you express this as you raise the question. Yes, I think what you are saying may very well describe what is going on as we hunger for some kind of fulfillment.