Love knows what we can do. Let’s begin. Perhaps God is only waiting for our kind intention.
—Brother Lawrence, Practice of the Presence
Brother Lawrence engaged in an ongoing correspondence with a nun who lived in a nearby Paris convent. In this letter, he encourages her in her practice:
You are telling me nothing new in your letter. You’re not the only one who has distracting thoughts. The mind is extremely likely to wander, but the will is the mistress of all our powers, and must draw the mind back and carry it to God as to its final end.
When the mind has not been taught early on how to return, to be led back to itself, it can develop some unhealthy habits of becoming distracted and scattered. These are difficult to overcome. These tendencies ordinarily drag us off to earthly things, in spite of ourselves.
I think that a solution for this is to admit our stumbles and humble ourselves before God. During set times of silent prayer, I advise you not to use many words. Long discourses often create distractions…. Do your best to keep your mind in God’s presence. If it wanders or pulls away sometimes, don’t be discouraged. Distress tends to distract the mind rather than to focus it. We must use the will gently to bring it back. If you persevere in this way, God will have mercy on you.
An easy way of bringing your mind back during the set time of prayer and holding it there more at rest, is not to let it wander much during the day. Hold it attentively in God’s presence. As you get used to thinking of God from time to time, it will become easy to remain calm during times of prayer, or at least to bring the mind back when it wanders.
In his letters to a laywoman, Brother Lawrence shares:
God does not ask much of us, merely a brief thought of them from time to time, a little love, sometimes asking for grace, sometimes offering them your sufferings, other times thanking them for the blessings they have given, and are giving you. In the middle of your tasks you can comfort yourself with Love as often as you can, in all these ways. During your meals and conversations, lift up your heart to God sometimes. The slightest little awareness will always be very pleasant. We don’t need to shout out to do this. God is closer to us than we may think….
Remember, I beg you, what I recommended. Think of God often, night and day, in all your activities, even when you relax. God is always near you and with you. Don’t leave them alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone who came to visit you. Then why abandon God and leave them alone? Don’t forget Love. Think of God often, and love them without stopping.
Reference:
Nicolas Herman, Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, Practice of the Presence, trans. Carmen Acevedo Butcher (Broadleaf Books, 2022), 87–88, 94, 97.
Image credit and inspiration: Bruce Tang, untitled (detail), 2019, photo, Japan, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Attentive to the moment and the task at hand, we find that holiness lives in simple, ordinary rhythms—no grand cathedral required, only the quiet altar of a kitchen table.
Story from Our Community:
Brother Lawrence has crossed my path several times. I was first introduced to his life on a retreat many years ago. Since that time, his name has popped up now and then, reminding me that every action I take and all that I do is embedded in the presence of God. I don’t have to bother about seeing the effects or results. At present it’s taking care of my beloved wife in her disease. Sharing her pain and distress brings me back to this Presence. We are not alone.
—Roland W.
