The Presence of God

Today’s offering comes from the “spiritual maxims” of Brother Lawrence – a 17th Century kitchen help in a monastery, whose letters and maxims have survived the centuries:

The holiest, most common, most necessary practice in the spiritual life is the presence of God, that is to take delight in and become accustomed to His divine company, speaking humble and talking loving with Him at all times, at every moment, without rule or system and especially in times of temptation, suffering, spiritual aridity, disgust and even of unfaithfulness and sin.

We must continually work hard so that each of our actions is a way of carrying on little conversations with God, not in any carefully prepared way but as it comes from the purity and simplicity of heart.

We must carry out all our actions with care and with wisdom without the impetuosity and precipitancy of a distraught  mind; it is necessary to work peacefully, tranquilly and lovingly with God, begging Him to accept our work, and by this continually mindfulness of God we shall crush the head of the devil and cause his weapons to fall from his hands.

During our work and other activities, during our spiritual reading and writing even more so during our formal devotions and spoken prayers we should stop as often as we can, for a moment to adore God from the bottom our our hearts, to savour Him, by stealth as it were, as He passes by.  Since you know God is with you in all your actions, that He is in the deepest recesses of your soul, why not, from time to time, leave off your external activities and even your spoken prayers to adore Him inwardly, to praise Him, to petition Him, to offer Him your heart and give Him thanks?

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For more, let me encourage you to read the collection of conversations, letters, and maxims in what is known as “The Practice of the Presence of God.”

For further interest see Laura Locke’s article on Brother Lawrence.