During her lifetime, Evelyn Underhill was admired and appreciated for her personality as well as for her ideas — for her groundedness and integrity, for her humor, for her transparency as a living icon. In this sense, her wisdom was "caught" as well as taught. Although Underhill never bore children of her own, her vocation as a Mother of Souls was central to her identity.

At this year's Day of Quiet, we will explore Underhill's friendships with those who sought her guidance in relation to the life of the Spirit. We will look particularly at her extensive correspondence, the letters that functioned as a "mysterious link between soul and soul", seeking clues about how — and where and when — she approached the practice traditionally described as "spiritual direction."

Merrill Ware Carrington, M. Div., is a retreat leader and, for twenty years, has been actively engaged in the ministry of spiritual direction. An Episcopal laywoman, she lived for several years in London, just around the corner from the house where Underhill, during the Blitz, spent the final months of her life. Merrill was a regular communicant at the parish church in whose churchyard Underhill is buried.