Audiobook · read by volunteers
Life of the Spirit and the Life of Today
Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941)
Read by Mary Reagan · 17 chapters · 8 h 27
About the book
Evelyn Underhill, one of the most respected English writers on mysticism and the spiritual life, asks a plain question: what does religion mean for ordinary men and women living in the modern world? Her answer, drawn from a series of lectures, is neither nostalgic nor abstract. She argues that spirituality is a real and lasting fact of human experience, not a retreat from life but something that should shape work, relationships, thought and daily habits. Along the way she considers how faith and daily life can meet in a restless age. The language is clear, calm and thoughtful, with a quiet confidence that comes from long reflection. Mary Reagan reads the seventeen sections, and the book covers over eight hours. A rewarding listen for anyone interested in Christian spirituality, the practice of faith, or the way people of the early twentieth century wrestled with questions that remain with us.
Introduction
Evelyn Underhill was born in 1875 and died in 1941. She was an English writer on religion and the spiritual life, and her early study of mysticism brought her wide recognition. In later years she was active as a retreat conductor and spiritual guide, and she was known for combining learning with practical wisdom.
The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-day was published in 1922. It is based on a set of lectures that explore how spiritual belief and practice can be understood in the context of modern life. Underhill insists that the spiritual life is practical and belongs to the here and now. For her, no account of human life is complete unless it leaves room for the spiritual and for the religious life in which it finds expression. The tone is that of a thoughtful teacher who respects her readers.
The book was written in the aftermath of the First World War, when many people were asking hard questions about faith, progress and meaning. Underhill does not offer easy comfort, but she does hold out a steady vision of an inner life that can coexist with an active one. Some of her vocabulary and examples belong to her time and to the Christian tradition in which she wrote, though her central concerns are broad.
The recording has a preface and eight chapters, each divided into two parts, and it lasts about eight and a half hours. It is read by LibriVox volunteer Mary Reagan. It will suit anyone interested in religious thought, mysticism or the history of modern spirituality.
Public domain
Evelyn Underhill died in 1941: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text