Practicing the presence of God

Brother Lawrence didn’t like doing dishes any more than I do, but he found pleasure and peace in the business. That catches my attention.

He lived in the 1600’s but he was searching for the same thing that we hunger for today: peace and purpose. He started life as soldier, fighting in the Thirty Years War for the French. He tried studies, civil work (he described himself as a “footman who was clumsy and broke everything”), and spent time living in the wilderness. Searching.

But eventually he washed dishes in a monastery and thought about the presence of God.

That may seem a little tame today with our insatiable appetite for entertainment and a new adrenalin rush. We avoid dull tasks, convinced that life has new zest in adventure. But we are a troubled people, anxious to find purpose and peace as we rush to new quests.

Brother Lawrence found it.

Through a quiet life that embraced menial tasks, Brother Lawrence remained in God’s presence. It didn’t matter the assignment. No matter how our head is occupied, our heart can be melded with God. Anytime. In any task.

If you haven’t read The Practice of the Presence of God, you’ll find it surprisingly refreshing.

Samples:

“We should feed and nourish our souls with high notions of GOD; which would yield us great joy in being devoted to Him.”

"He was pleased when he could take up a straw from the ground for the love of GOD, seeking Him only, and nothing else, not even His gifts."

“In his business in the kitchen (to which he had naturally a great aversion), having accustomed himself to do everything there for the love of GOD, and with prayer, upon all occasions, for His grace to do his work well, he had found everything easy, during the fifteen years that he had been employed there.”