The Very First Giant I Walked With
Enjoy these little stories from Behind the Scenes of Journey with a Giant
The Very First Giant I Walked With
Today I get to introduce you to someone very special to me. Although I never met her in real life, she profoundly shaped who I am today-- and the callings I am walking out now as a spiritual director, retreat leader, and author.
Her name is Evelyn (that’s EVE-a-lin) Underhill.
When my instructor in spiritual formation class handed out a list of “spiritual giants” and told us to choose one to walk with, I recognized her name from the heroes of the faith we had studied the year before. Because of my faith background, I was more comfortable choosing Evelyn than those with “St.” before their names.
Evelyn was born in London in 1875, the only child of affluent, agnostic parents. Both her father and husband were successful lawyers. She lived within London’s upper society, lectured at universities, and wrote more than 30 books—many under the pseudonym John Cordelier, before it was acceptable for women to publish under their own names.
From her earliest years, she was eager to understand spiritual truth. She came to know Christ in her early twenties while exploring the works of spiritual giants, such as Meister Eckhart and St. John of the Cross. Her writing was both captivating and full of accounts of personal, active love between her and her Savior. In her forties, she began teaching the Anglican Church leaders, at a time when women did not teach men, that everyone—not just priests and monks--could regularly hear the voice of God.
Unlike other religious leaders of her day, Evelyn didn’t only focus on outward ministry, social justice, and church attendance, but emphasized times of solitude and intimacy in our relationship with the Lord. She led six to eight retreats a year helping others to come away and experience God’s presence and intimate love for them--apart from all the “doing” that so often consumes our faith.
Just listen to her passion in this quote:
“We mostly spend our lives conjugating three verbs: to want, to have, and to do... forgetting that none of these verbs have any ultimate significance except as they are transcended by the fundamental verb, to be—and that being, not wanting, having, and doing, is the essence of a spiritual life.” —Evelyn Underhill
She taught that God’s first desire was not what we could do for Him, but for intimacy with Him—and that from this intimacy flows everything else.
Evelyn was an excellent example of a married woman living a full, productive life while walking in deep intimacy with God. She lived in a comfortable home, gave parties, took road trips with her husband, and loved sailing. She was a picture of what I hoped my own life would look like—a woman of faith, presence, and purpose--with similar callings to the ones I was endeavoring to live out.
It was 2017. God had recently given my husband and me the property that would become The Sanctuary at Bear Creek. After two decades of encountering God in solitude and silence, I felt Him urging me—even while I shook in my boots—to invite others to come away and taste His goodness through three-day prayer retreats.
Evelyn’s life confirmed what I sensed burning within me: intimacy with God is the highest priority of our faith. If she could teach this truth in the 1940s and ’50s, when women were to be silent homemakers, not teaching in huge cathedrals and prestigious universities, I could do it in my generation—when women’s voices are just as esteemed as men’s and a woman was serving as vice president.
As I walked with Evelyn, I noticed changes in myself. Her courage strengthened mine. Her relationship with God deepened my own. And it made me wonder—if God had used this one “giant of the faith” to shape me so profoundly, who else might He want to use to strengthen me, and to help me accomplish the purposes that He had ordained for me?
Why had I never paid more attention to the heroes of the faith, beyond watching an occasional movie like Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire or Corrie Ten Boom in The Hiding Place? Could it be that God wants to mentor us through the lives who have gone before?
Time would bring that answer. When next year’s class began, my instructor gave us a new assignment: choose another spiritual giant—this time, to walk with for two years.
And that’s where the next chapter of my journey began.
If this story stirs something within you ...
Journey with a Giant was written for you!
In it, I’ll guide you through this same practice—helping you choose a spiritual giant to walk with, listen for God’s invitations, and discover what it means to grow in intimacy and purpose.
Order your printed copy or audiobook today.
Stay Tuned ...
In the next Behind-the-Scenes story, I’ll introduce you to a remarkable man God brought across my path—a faithful follower who became a key reason Journey with a Giant ever came into being.
For more encouragement and resources to grow in your relationship with God and others, visit lorigmelton.com or thesanctuaryatbearcreek.com. You can also connect with us on Facebook and Instagram at The Sanctuary at Bear Creek.