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Brother Lawrence Practices God's Presence

Brother Lawrence was a humble cook who worked in a Monastery kitchen his entire life. No one would have ever heard of his life if he hadn't written a small book entitled "Practicing the Presence of God" published almost 300 years ago. The words Brother Lawrence lived so long ago still hold wisdom today. When Nicolas Herman was a child, his mother and father taught him to love the Lord. He joined the army as a young adult where God really became "real" to him every day. While in the army he was taken prisoner by the German army, who threatened to hang him for being a spy. God's presence allowed Nicolas to face the possibility of death with peace. The Germans had never seen this response to death threats and released the young man. Returning to his own army, Nicholas was soon forced to return home to his parents to recover from an injury. While recovering from his wounds, Nicholas spent time praying, reading God's Word, and reflecting on his future. He made a firm resolve to accept the teachings of the Gospel and to walk in the footprints of Jesus Christ. This propelled him to live in a desert, much like John the Baptist. He found his spiritual life harmed by that time in the desert, so he sought out a Christian brotherhood to live out the rest of his days. Nicolas went to Paris,entered the Carmelite Order, and changed his name to Brother Lawrence. Upon entering the order he was assigned the most humble tasks, which he accepted without grumbling. He used his time in the kitchen to begin to cultivate a deep presence of God in his heart. "It is not necessary to have great things to do. I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God; when it is finished, if I have nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the ground and adore my God, Who gave me the grace to make it, after which I arise, more content than a king. When I cannot do anything else, it is enough for me to have lifted a straw from the earth for the love of God." "During my work, I would always continue to speak to the Lord as though He were right with me, offering Him my services and thanking Him for His assistance. And at the end of my work, I used to examine it carefully. If I found good in it, I thanked God. If I noticed faults, I asked His forgiveness without being discouraged, and then went on with my work, still dwelling in Him. Thus, continuing in this practice of conversing with God throughout each day, and quickly seeking His forgiveness when I fell or strayed, His presence has become as easy and natural to me now as it once was difficult to attain." On his deathbed, Brother Lawrence continued doing what he did every day in the kitchen, "Blessing God, praising God, adoring Him and loving Him with all my heart." On Feb. 12, 1691, at 80 years of age, Brother Lawrence finally met God face to face in eternity. ? Copyright 2002 written by CK Miller, adapted from The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence, 1982, Whitaker House.

Born Naked and Hungry

We are born naked, wet and hungry. Then things get worse -- Bumper Sticker

Complaining or Rejoicing about Thorns

You can either complain that rose bushes have thorns - or rejoice that thorn bushes have roses.

Success and Attitude

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. (John Homer Miller)

Harvard on Attitude and Success

A Harvard research project found eighty-five percent of people?s success due to attitude, only fifteen percent due to ability. Attitude was much more important than luck, talent, education or intelligence.

Frankl on Attitude

Life?s circumstances getting you down? Loaded down with homework? Parents on your case about everything? Whatever you?re going through, Viktor Frankl probably had it worse. Hitler stripped him of his medical practice, family and possessions, putting him into a concentration camp. He?d done nothing wrong. Hitler simply didn?t like Jews and Frankl was a Jew. Imagine that it happened to you: you lose everything that matters to you, simply because of your race. Wouldn?t you be ticked? But things got worse. While in the camp, he watched the Nazi?s murder his friends and saw others commit suicide. Many simply gave up hope. Frankl chose a different course. Although he couldn?t change his horrendous circumstances, he could control his attitude. It was one thing the Nazi?s couldn?t change, without his permission. His positive attitude helped him to not only survive, but to become a world-renowned author and Psychiatrist. According to Frankl, concerning his prison camp experience, "Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom.?

Frankl on Attitude

?Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms ? to choose one?s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one?s own way.? Viktor Frankl

Landers on Expecting Trouble

?If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold your head high, look it squarely in the eye and say, ?I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.?? (Ann Landers)

World Not Devoted to Making Us Happy

Hal Urban observes that one of life?s most valuable lessons is, The world will not devote itself to making us happy. (Urban, Hal, Life?s Greatest Lessons or 20 Things I Want My Kids to Know, Great Lessons Press, Redwood City, CA, 1997)

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