I am not always humble, but I have a great respect for humility. It's the Christian virtue that the mystics seem to have in most abundance. When opening a text like Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle or Brother Lawrence's Practicing the Presence of God, you assume that you'll find someone full of deep, gnomic wisdom and … Continue reading Her Center and Place of Rest
Tag: Brother Lawrence
Give the All for the All
Having found in many books different methods of going to God and diverse practices of the spiritual life, I thought this would serve rather to puzzle me than facilitate what I sought after, which was nothing but how to become wholly God’s. This made me resolve to give the all for the All. After having … Continue reading Give the All for the All
In the Kitchen
I have often wondered what the disciples felt at the last supper. I think that their primary emotion was fear. They knew that they were being hunted by Herod, and Jesus had been talking for weeks about how he would go to Jerusalem, would be arrested, and would die. Now they were in Jerusalem, sitting … Continue reading In the Kitchen
Praising, Adoring, and Loving God
What is the grace that Brother Lawrence speaks of in the quote below? We're happy when things go our way, and we might think of this as grace, but it's not. Happiness is a comparatively simple thing, drawing its energy and existence from temporal success or momentary relationships with other people, or, often in my … Continue reading Praising, Adoring, and Loving God
A Continual Exercise of Love
Brother Lawrence tells us that he spent a lot of time trying to be dutiful and follow the prayer methods that everyone else seemed to be using before he finally settled on his own simple way of praying. W/hen I read the quote below, it's hard not to be reminded of Centering Prayer, and of … Continue reading A Continual Exercise of Love
KPB Stevens 