The Practice of the Presence of God
Brother Lawrence (born Nicolas Herman) was a French soldier who served at the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Paris. After his death a book compiled from notes of several conversations had with him, and letters written by him was published.
The people in his life were deeply impacted by his single goal of bringing a conscious personal union between himself and God.
He developed the practice over four years by thinking about God constantly regardless of his outward activity or circumstance.
The value of the book is the extreme simplicity used to approach religion. It stands in stark contrast to the extreme complexity of organized religion today. Brother Lawrence didn’t have doctrinal dilemmas, or require any particular artistic style.
He believed that anyone could make a never ceasing effort to think about and know God and by doing so, all other things would fall into place.
I fell in love with the concepts of the book but I found the 17th century language challenging. Additionally, I respectfully submit that publishing material intended to be kept in confidence is a form of dishonesty. In the book Brother Lawrence is quoted as saying (of his letters):
“I must tell you, that it is with great difficulty that I am prevailed on by your importunities; and now I do it only upon the terms, that you show my letter to nobody. If I knew that you would let it be seen, all the desire that I have for your advancement would not be able to determine me to it.”
In other words, regardless of the benefit to the reader he wouldn’t have written the letters if he knew they were going to be shared.
During a recent international trip on which I had copious amount of time on an airplane and in a hotel room, I listened to the book on repeat. Many of the ideas are repeated because it’s a collection of material never intended to be published.
In an effort to bring the book into the 21st century, and to honor the promise of privacy made to Brother Lawrence, I have deconstructed the core concepts he outlines in the book. I’m in the process of producing and publishing short audio segments based on those concepts intended for broadcast.
Download The Audio Here:
01 - The Practice of the Presence of God (Length :60)
Content licesned under Creative Commons
