Brother Lawrence: Practicing the Presence
“Sometimes I think of myself as a block of stone before a sculptor, ready to be sculpted into a statue, presenting myself thus to God, and I beg Him to form His perfect image in my soul and make me entirely like Himself.”—Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection in The Practice of The Presence of God (Image, 1977).
This very short book is a collection of four remembered conversations, sixteen letters, and a list of spiritual maxims of a French lay brother of a Discalced Carmelite in the 1600s. It is considered a spiritual classic about staying connected to God. Brother Lawrence initially worked at menial tasks in the monastery kitchen for fifteen years, and later in its shoe repair shop. He lived a life of a constant conversation with God, which brought to him the continual presence of God.
Brother Lawrence reminds me of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. For both, time for prayer was not different from any other time, since in essence one can remain in constant prayer. Brother Lawrence teaches that the shortest way to God is a continual exercise of love by doing all things for the love of God. He believed that we do not need penance or skill at certain practices or deep theological knowledge to connect to God. We only need a heart devoted to God.
He writes how God is often nearer when we are ill or weak than when we are in good health. He tells us to look especially for God in difficult times, and instead of asking for relief from suffering, to pray for strength to suffer courageously. Brother Lawrence asks us to keep unceasingly knocking at God’s door.
Joanna. joannaseibert.com
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