Saturday, October 18th, 2003 - Practicing the Presence of God

As stated in a previous post, I have been reading "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence, a Christian kitchen cook from the 17th century. His opinion was that we, as Christians, should make it our goal to "practice the presence of God;" I have previously termed and described this as "being in communion with God." This is the state where we spend every moment every day with God in all that we do. I agree with his view, and although I have only read 60 of the 110 pages, his book is by far the best book I have ever read short of the Bible.

The book contains 4 conversations with Brother Lawrence and 15 short letters that he wrote to other people, so it is more about his beliefs than it is authored by him. He talked about communion with God to those around him, and the typical response was "that's awesome, but how did you get there?" There is no way to simplify his answer, but I'm going to attempt to summarize it and then also give a suggestion of my own.

It is hard for me to even summarize Lawrence's explanation of the means for living in communion with God, so I will just quote the entire paragraph following the question in his 3rd conversation. It is written by the interviewer after having already spoken with Brother Lawrence, so past tense, third-person pronouns (such as his, himself) are referring to Lawrence.

"That in the beginning of his novitiate he spent the hours appointed for private prayer [(designated by his monastery)] in thinking of God, so as to convince his mind of, and to impress deeply upon his heart, the divine existence, rather by devout sentiments, and submission to the lights of faith, than by studied reasonings and elaborate meditations. That by this short and sure method he exercised himself in the knowledge and love of God, resolving to use his utmost endeavor to live in a continual sense of His presence, and, if possible never to forget Him more."

In reflecting upon the past month since I started more actively seeking complete communion with God, this means or suggestion has not been a very fruitful one, as it was for Brother Lawrence. However, I am learning (largely through the privelege of struggle) methods that help me practice the presence of God. The main reason that I don't talk with and acknowledge God before I do an activity is that I simply forget. It is easy for me to wake up, shower, eat, and go to class without remembering to talk to God and thank Him for the ability and materials to accomplish all of those things.

So the core of the answer to "how" is in learning to remember; more so, in developing habit over time so that it becomes automatic to acknowledge God in everything (short of doing it only out of habit rather than out of love for God). My key advice here lies in the morning and in daily tasks that we normally do each morning. I strongly believe that focusing ourselves on God right away in the day greatly helps us to focus on God throughout the rest of the day. The main way that I do this is by writing myself short post-it notes and plopping them up all over my room.

I'll use my previous illustration of the beginnings of a typical day: wake up, shower, eat, and go to class. I wake up, and I see a note on my wall that says "Thank God for the warmth and comfort of bed and sleep." After getting out of bed, it is my routine to go over to my computer (where there's a note "Thank God for internet, email, and computer") and play a song by Audio Adrenaline, "This Day;" the chorus is "I want to say a prayer/before my feet can hit the ground/Lord, I give this day to you."

Then, I walk over to get my towel and see the note by my towels "Thank God for cleanliness and showering." Now showering is the big kicker in renewing my mind; ever since God has shown me an analogy between showering and forgiveness, I view physical cleansing as an opportune spiritual cleansing time. Now that I think of it, I will post that analogy next; I sent it in an email awhile ago, but I'll put it here, too. I thought of how easy it is to remember to shower but how much less easier it is to remember to confess our sins, and ever since that time, I have turned showering time into confession time.

So my greatest advice is to examine your morning routine and find something that you do every day, like going to the bathroom or showering. Put notes up (reminding you to commune with God) around your room or your house that you know you will see in doing that activity. That will help you take on an attitude of worship and adoration in the very first daily tasks, and then, progress from there. Starting the day off with God is key, but I don't ever want to stop there; however, I believe it is a definite process and starting small is the best idea.

I started out "gung ho" style, acknowledging God in everything, all the time. But as that dwindled over time, I went back and re-evaluated and kind of started all over again. I had to go back and start small again, at first concentrating on praising God through showering, and then adding more and more post-it notes around my room as I broadened my focus. I just have such a miniscule capacity for memory that this is a hard struggle for me (even with notes - but they've helped a lot!).

A final thought that I'll add is one that Brother Lawrence displayed in the book: perseverance. He says something along the lines of "the moment you realize that you have strayed from communion with God, go right back to God and tell Him that, expressing your desire to continue with Him." Don't get discouraged if it goes well for a week and then you struggle to remember for 3 months - the length of time does not matter. Return to communion with God as soon as you realize that you haven't been with Him; continue to do this and it becomes easier and more of a reality to talk with God in everything. "Just keep on truckin."

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