Living in the Presence of God The Everyday Spirituality of Brother Lawrence
Great Spiritual Teachers
John J. Kirvan
ISBN 9780877936015
ISBN 0877936013
This is the sixteenth volume in the Great Spiritual Teachers series I have read, It is one of the ones that is currently out of print. It is one of the oldest titles in the series, it was originally released in 1997, and I believe it was not part of either rebranding’s the series has gone through. Two Years ago I read my first book in the series, it was Born to Do This: 30 Days with Joan of Arc by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, and loved it and the concept of the series. I have read one almost every month since that first one, and if I can track down all the out of print, will do so until I finish all 24 released to date in the series. This one was harder to track down but well worth the effort.
The description of this volume states:
“Living in the Presence of God is a thirty-day spiritual journey based on the classic work of Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God. For over three centuries those who have pursued their soul’s dreams amidst unremitting demands on their time have welcomed the wisdom of this simple Carmelite cook and sandal-maker. Discover how Brother Lawrence can guide you in the midst of the hectic pace of your life.
If I were a preacher I would, above all other things preach the practice of the presence of God. For there is nothing in the world sweeter or more delightful than a continual conversation with God. Brother Lawrence.”
Another states:
“This book maps out a thirty-day spiritual journey based on the classic work of Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God. Discover how Brother Lawrence's insights can guide you in the midst of the hectic pace of your life.”
About the series we are informed:
“Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.”
I believe there are 17 volumes in this series currently in print, but only 15 of those have digital editions. There are also a number that are currently out of print, The oldest I have seen are from the late 1080’s and it looks like they went through a rebranding and format change in the mid 00’s, and they have undergone yet another rebranding in the 2020’s including some new titles available in the series. I must admit I do not recall running across this series prior to that first volume on Joan. I have however added all of them to my ‘to be read list’. I love the most recent rebranding, and hope Ave Maria completes the rebranding across all volumes, and brings back into print some of the volumes currently not available; specifically the volumes on John of the Cross, Evelyn Underhill, Mother Theresa and others. This specific volume was released in 2021, making it one of the oldest in the series.
The sections in this volume are:
Brother Lawrence
How to Pray This Book
Thirty Days with Brother Lawrence
One Final Word
While reading this I numerous passages, some of them are:
“If I were a preacher I would, above all other things, preach the practice of the presence of God. For there is nothing in the world sweeter or more delightful than a continual conversation with God. I would advise the whole world to take it up, so necessary do I consider it, and so easy.”
“There is something deeply encouraging and reassuring about a spirituality born in the steamy air of a kitchen and honed at a shoemaker's bench. It carries no trace of a hothouse world of spiritual luxury, exotic experience and leisure for the soul. It blossoms in a world where time is itself a luxury and the only space is where you find yourself.”
“He began by reading all the right spiritual books, but each, he said, sent him off in a different direction, confusing his search for God rather than aiding it. So out of sheer need-and deep insight – he reduced his spiritual life to setting out to love God above all else, nurturing that love by consciously staying in God's presence, thinking about God as often as possible, and praying all the while he fulfilled the pedestrian but life-supporting duties of a cook and sandal- maker.”
“In over three centuries there have been hundreds of editions in many languages of the work generally called The Practice of the Presence of God. It is not a book conceived and written by Lawrence, but a compilation of various materials. As a result, one edition can vary quite greatly from another in its contents. Generally speaking, you will find the sixteen letters from Lawrence to persons seeking his spiritual advice. There is also a gathering of maxims in which Lawrence sums up in his own words the basics of a spiritual life lived in the presence of God. You may also find a eulogy composed in the year following his death by someone who had great access to Lawrence while he was alive.”
“The thirty meditations in this book are designed to provide a concentrated, meditative exposure to the principle ideas that characterized the life and teachings of Brother Lawrence. Any one meditation may bring together passages from several sources and each has been composed in the first person so that Lawrence is presented as speaking directly to you, a seeker after his hard won wisdom.”
“A word of advice: read slowly. Very slowly. The meditation has been broken down into sense lines to help you do just this. Don't read just to get to the end, but to savor each part of the meditation. You never know what short phrase, what word, will trigger a response in your spirit. Give the words a chance. After all, you are not just reading this passage, you are praying it. You are establishing a mood of serenity for your whole day. What's the rush?”
“Forgive my sins.
Accept all that I am,
all that I could be,
that in return
I might have nothing but you,
only you,
all of you.”
“Without the continuous help of God
we cannot escape the dangers
that abound in this life.
So how can you expect his continuous help
unless you pray for it continually?
But how can you pray to him continually
unless you are in his presence?
And how can you be in his presence
unless you think of him often?
And how can you think of him often
unless you develop
the habit of living in his presence?”
“Stay with me Lord
as another day living in your presence
fades into darkness
and silence.”
“Walk with God
in simple faith,
with humility and with love,
and try diligently
to do nothing and think nothing
that would displease hi1n.
Make it your goal to persevere
simply and solely in his presence,
maintaining
habitual,
silent,
and secret
conversation of your soul with God.
And trust that when you have done
all you can do,
he will do
what is best for you.”
“There is no great art or science
to living in the presence of God.
You need only a heart
determined to apply itself
to no one or no thing but God.”
“The key to living in the presence of God
is putting behind you everything
that you realize is not leading to him.
Only then will you become aware of
his presence within you.”
“My mind wanders.
So will yours.
But do not allow yourself
to become upset and worried.
Rather go on working
to keep out of your mind
anything and everything
that might interrupt
your sense of his presence,
your thoughts of him.”
“Prayer is nothing else
but being aware of the presence of God.
It does not end
when the appointed times for "prayer" have passed.
For we pray whenever we do our ordinary tasks,
not with a view of pleasing others,
but as far as we are capable,
in order to please God.”
“All the fine speeches I hear about God,
everything I have read about him,
all that I have come to feel about him,
have never been enough to satisfy me.”
“This is the time
to make good and effective
acts of resignation to his will,
for even one such act
could lead to spiritual growth.”
“For despite my sinfulness
you will, I know and trust,
continue to bestow
your blessings on me.
Help 1ny unbelief.
Replace my fear with joy.”
“Let your infinite graciousness
fill the night,
hearing my prayers before they are said,
knowing what I want and need
before I know myself.”
“Let us make way for grace.
And let us not lose any time.
For we know not
how much time is left to us.”
“For in whatever place I find myself,
I can always do little things,
indeed all things,
for the love of God.
So can you.”
“So if you cannot serve him
where you are,
you will serve him
where he wants you to be.”
“If you turn inward
and faithfully practice the presence of God
it is possible
that your soul will become so intimate with God
that you will find yourself
spending practically all your time
in one continual act of prayer.”
Each day follows the same format with three main sections:
MY DAY BEGINS: “As the day begins set aside a quiet moment in a quiet place to do the reading provided for the day
The passages are short; they never run more than a couple of hundred words. They have been carefully selected, though, to give a spiritual focus, a spiritual center to your whole day. They are designed to remind you, as another day begins, of your own existence at a spiritual level. They are meant to put you in the presence of the spiritual master who is your companion and teacher on this journey. This is especially true of this journey with Catherine of Siena. The readings are her report of God’s words to her, God’s side of the dialogue. And since the purpose of the passage is to remind you that at every moment during you are in the presence of a God who invites you continually, but quietly, to live in and through him, what better source than the words of God himself?”
ALL THROUGH YOUR DAY: “Immediately following the day’s reading you will find a single sentence, a meditation in the form of a mantra, a phrase meant as a companion for your spirit as it moves through a busy day. Write it down on a 3" x 5" card or on the appropriate page of your daybook. Look at it as often as you can. Repeat it quietly to yourself, and go on your way.
It is not meant to stop you in your tracks or to distract you from responsibilities but simply, gently, to remind you of the presence of God and your desire to respond to this presence.”
MY DAY IS ENDING: “This is a time for letting go of the day, for entering a world of imaginative prayer … This exercise is not meant to last more than a few minutes. End it when you are comfortable doing so. It has two parts. The first, in keeping with Catherine’s model, is a personal response to the words spoken by God in the day’s reading. Just as God has spoken to you, so you speak to God. Second, you are invited to turn to the familiarity of a prayer based on Catherine’s own words. It is an act of trust and confidence, an entryway into peaceful sleep, a simple evening prayer that gathers together the spiritual character of the day that is now ending as it began—in the presence of God.
It is a time for summary and closure.”
A sample day is:
“DAY 13
My Day Begins
When you pray,
don't multiply your words.
Many words and long speeches
are an excuse for your mind to wander.
Instead, present yourself to God
like a speechless beggar
at a rich man's gate.
Your only task is
to stay in the presence of God.
But when you pray,
if your mind does wander from God,
do not get upset.
Trouble and disquiet
are more likely to distract your soul
than bring it back to prayer.
Tranquillity is the key.
Just persevere
and God will have pity on you.
All Through The Day
Just persevere.
My Day Is Ending
Stay with me Lord
as another day living in your presence
fades into darkness
and silence.
Now is not the time
to search for words,
or to conjure up great thoughts,
but for silence.
I am a speechless beggar
at a rich man's gate.
My only task is
to stay in your presence.
Hear, I beg you,
what I cannot say,
what I need not say.”
I wanted to share the One Final Word section:
“Towards the end of his life, looking back over decades of single minded attention to the presence of God, Brother Lawrence confessed to being surprised:
I came to the monastery these many years ago
thinking that I would pay
for my awkwardness and faults
by sacrificing to Cod
my life and all its pleasures.
But God has disappointed me.
I have n1et with nothing
but satisfaction.
You can expect the same.
God always surprises, never disappoints, whatever spiritual path you take, whether it is that lived and recommended by Brother Lawrence or by some other great spiritual teacher.
If you decide that the path of Brother Lawrence is one that you wish to follow more closely and deeply, read and study the entire text of The Practice of the Presence of God, one that contains his letters, his maxims and other supplementary material.
You may, however, decide that his experience has not helped you. There are many other teachers. Somewhere there is the right teacher for your own, very special, absolutely unique journey of the spirit. You will find your teacher; you will discover your path.
We would not be searching, as St. Augustine reminds us, if we had not already been found.”
I really loved this volume and really wish it was in print and available digitally. I know a half dozen people I would give it to immediately! And that final section or something like it is in all the volumes. I hope those quotes and the sample days give you a feel for this excellent volume. I am very thankful I was able to track a copy of this one down. I have been reading The Practice of the Presence of God, for over thirty years now, since I first encountered it in Campus Ministry. It was really inspiring and encouraging to read this volume. It draws heavily from Brother Lawrence’s own words.
I have benefited from every volume I have read and I have completed more than half of the series. I have now read 16 volumes in this series, and currently working on a seventeenth I can state this is another great offering in the series. I find that some speak to me more than others. I can also state I benefited from the month with each person being profiled. And if I went back and did a volume again at a different point or season in life I might interact with it differently. And if this became available digitally would be one of the first I returned to after finishing them all. I already plan to circle back to both this volume and the volume on Joan and reread them once I have completed the series.
This is a great read, it is one I really enjoyed reading. I can easily recommend this volume, if you can track it down, and the series as a whole, and I look forward to reading others in the series. If you have not given any in this series a try this would be an excellent starting point or whichever one seems to call to you.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2026 Catholic Reading Plan!
Books in the Great Spiritual Teachers Series:
Abide in love: the Gospel spirituality of John the Evangelist – John Kirvan
Fear Not the Night - John of the Cross and John Kirvan
God Awaits You Based on the Classic Spirituality of Meister - Richard Chilson
Grace Through Simplicity - Evelyn Underhill and John Kirvan
Love Without Measure - Mother Teresa and John Kirvan
That you may have life: let the mystics be your guide for Lent - John Kirvan
Where Only Love Can Go - The Cloud of Unknowing and John Kirvan
...
Books by and about Brother Lawrence:
Practising the Presence of God: with Brother Lawrence - Jennifer Moorcroft - CTS Books
The Practice of the Presence of God - Whitaker House Edition
…
No comments:
Post a Comment