the practice of the presence of god

Today I read The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. It was ok but I think I am not contemplative enough for this kind of writing. It could be because I sandwiched reading this between watching The Godfather/The Godfather II and the David Gilmour concert on BBC. I can only blame myself for lacking the spiritual discipline required for this kind of book. But I did pick up some good thoughts and these were consistent with recent points on worship [here and here]. Brother Lawrence said, "Believe me, count as lost each day you have not used in loving God." I believe him. My soul yearns for more of God. And the more I become aware of His presence, the more of Him I desire. I think this is why I so love to be with His people. In them I experience a community with not only them but also with our Father. On the other hand, this comes at the cost of private, intimate times with our Lord. I need to develop the latter more.

Brother Lawrence's approach to worship was that "our sanctification does not depend upon changing our works, but in doing them for God's sake instead of doing them for our own." He said that, "it was sad to see how many people mistook the means for the end, filling their lives with work which they performed imperfectly, because of their human or selfish goals." He found God in all things. He set his mind to praise God in even the most common tasks.

We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. We should not be disturbed if, in the beginning, we fail in our discipline, because eventually we will gain a habit, which will naturally produce its fruits in us, without our care, and to our great delight.

The end we ought to propose to ourselves is to become, in this life, the most perfect worshippers of God we can possibly be, as we hope to be through all eternity. The greater perfection a soul aspires after, the more dependent it is on Divine grace.

I think I was most moved by these words in the introduction, "The conversation and letters of this humble but exalted lay brother have been compiled to show all of us how, at any moment and in any circumstance, the soul that seeks the companionship of God may find Him." I pray that somehow in my life, this truth might also be visible.

Technorati Tags: Brother Lawrence, worship, The Godfather, David Gilmour