Obituary
- Wednesday September 6th
Complete List of
Works
Dedication of Munroe
Hall
Photographic
History
Selected
passages (rearranged) from Testament
of Devotion,
By
Thomas R. Kelly,
1941
Thomas
Raymond Kelly graduated from Wilmington College in
1913 with a concentration in the
physical sciences, spent an extra year at
Haverford College. He died suddenly in 1941 at the age of 47.
"A
Testament of Devotion" is classic Quaker literature
which I think may speak to all generations,
particularly those, who feel rushed and torn
between
possibilities in lives with so many choices.
Chapter 5 of 5: "The Simplification of
Life" (prepared by Kelly for a symposium on simplicity in 1939)
“There is a divine Abyss within us all, a holy Infinite Center, a
Heart, a Life who speaks in us and through
us to the world. We have all heard this holy Whisper at times.
At times we have followed the Whisper, and amazing equilibrium of life,
amazing effectiveness of living set in. . .”
“Our complex living, we say, is due to the complex world we live in. .
.
We Western peoples are apt to think our great problems are external,
environmental.
We are not skilled in the inner life, where the real roots of our
problem lie.
For I would suggest that the true explanation of the complexity of our
. . .[lives] is an inner one, not an outer one.
The outer distractions of our interests reflect an inner lack of
integration of our own lives.
We feel honestly the pull of many obligations and try to fulfill them
all. And we are unhappy,
uneasy, strained, oppressed, and fearful we shall be shallow.
For over the margins of life comes a whisper, a faint call, a
premonition of richer living that we know we are passing by.
Strained by the very mad pace of our daily outer burdens, we are
further strained by an inward uneasiness,
because we have hints that there is a way of life, vastly richer and
deeper than all this hurried existence,
a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power. . .
We have seen and known some people who seem to have found this deep
Center of living,
where the fretful calls of life are integrated, where "no" as well as
"yes" can be said with confidence.
We've seen such lives, integrated, unhurried, cheery, fresh, positive.
These are not people of dallying idleness nor of obviously mooning
meditation; they are busy
carrying their full loads as well as we, but without any chafing of the
shoulders with the burden, with quiet joy. . .
We are so strained and tense, with our burdened lives; they are so
poised and at peace. . .
-read by m.
munroe at the funeral of his father.
Obituary
- Wednesday September 6th
Complete List of
Works
Dedication of Munroe
Hall
Photographic
History
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