A Testament of Devotion

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When you're ready for the truth in a nutshell give it a try. - Rated
This book is the proverbial finger pointing at the moon, and can lead to a glimpse if you're ready. If not, it is short and small enough that you can carry it in your pocket or bag and re-read all or portions repeatedly and get a little more out of it each time, depending on where on your journey you are. It has that wonderful Quaker quality of blending Christian mysticism with very subtle threads of Buddhism, Vedanta, Sufism, etc. that acts to integrate and harmonize many different perspectives into an illuminating synthesis of ideas and insights.

Still Mining the Gold from This Little Book - Rated
I've read a lot of Christian books by such authors as Augustine, Aquinas, Brother Lawrence, Pascal, Caussade, Teresa of Avila, Dostoevsky, Lewis, Tozer, Sproul, Geisler, Willard, Foster, and many more... but I'm drawn back to this little book above them all. I've come to appreciate the paradox of "nothing matters; everything matters." As Kelly said, God "gives us the royal blindness of faith, and the seeing eye of the sensitized soul, and the grace of unflinching obedience. Then we see that nothing matters, and that everything matters, and that this my task matters for me and for my fellow men and for Eternity. And if we be utterly humble we may be given the strength to be obedient even unto death, yea the death of the Cross." My goal is to write a devotional, theological book to compare to it. I am not yet up to the task. I have many notes from my many readings, but first I must make God's presence and will the deepest realities in my life as they obviously were in Kelly's. I have the head knowledge, but lack the deepest heart's passion and abandonment to divine breathings that are required to pen a masterpiece. I've learned from Kelly that it is more important that I live as God's masterpiece than pen one myself. As Kelly said, "practice comes first in religion, not theory or dogma."

One correction to my earlier review: Kelly discussed the paradox of "nothing matters; everything matters" with a Hindu monk, not a Buddhist one.

In closing, I'm somewhat surprised to find that Kelly's book is not as popular as it deserves to be. But, then again, I'm not. - Brad Clark

One of the Best Christian Devotional Classics - Rated
I have read this book four times and will read it many more. This book and "Abandonment to Divine Providence" by Jean-Pierre de Caussade are my favorite Christian devotional/mystical classics. Kelly's book is prose poetry that romances and broadens the spirit at the same time as it educates the mind. I used to compartmentalize spiritual things and separate them from the "non-spiritual" mundane activities in life. This outlook is in error, according to Kelly. ALL activities in life become "spiritual" and significant as one lives within the Divine Center, listening and following the Spirit's leadings. Only within this Center is there true peace in the midst of a world full of "inevitable suffering" and people who do NOT live within the Divine Center.

Although I love this book, the biographical section does mention Kelly's interest in Eastern philosophies and his fascination with A.N. Whitehead's teachings. Whitehead promoted panentheism and not true Christian theism. Also, Kelly does occasionally seem to give credence in his book to "non-Christian" forms of spirituality. In one place he mentions a conversation he had with a Buddhist monk over the religious paradox of "everything matters; nothing matters" which he tells his reader to contemplate in religious experience. Also, his reading of devotional classics included "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran, a non-Christian book to say the least. How much Eastern philosophies have influenced Kelly, I cannot say, but I do say that there is much in Kelly's book that has affected me both deeply and permanently; I highly recommend this book. - Brad Clark