Ordinary Work
Ordinary Work
Good Friday – April 10, 2020
Brother Lawrence communicated with God by going about his ordinary work.
For most of us, our “ordinary work” has changed in recent weeks. For Brother Lawrence, ordinary work meant working in the monastery kitchen and repairing shoes in the monastery cobbler shop. For us, “ordinary work” is very different.
But this monk’s emphasis remains the same. Whatever we do, God is our center. God is the focus of who we are and what we do. This takes our eyes off preoccupation with the situation around us or off trying to please those around us.
When we do our work in this way, we truly do “pray always,” as Paul suggested in 1 Thess. 5:17. You cannot “pray continually” or “pray without ceasing” if prayer is nonstop talking or conversation. But Brother Lawrence discovered the key to continual communion with God. Do everything you do in conscious contact with God.
He thought it was a shame that some people pursued certain activities (which, he noted, they did rather imperfectly due to human shortcomings), mistaking the means for the end. He said that our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves.
The most effective way Brother Lawrence had for communicating with God was to simply do his ordinary work. He did this obediently, out of a pure love of God, purifying it as much as was humanly possible. He believed it was a serious mistake to think of our prayer time as being different from any other. Our actions should unite us with God when we are involved in our daily activities, just as our prayer unites us with Him in our quiet time.
He said his prayers consisted totally and simply of God’s presence. His soul was resting in God, having lost its awareness of everything but love of Him. When he wasn’t in prayer, he felt practically the same way. Remaining near to God, he praised and blessed Him with all his strength. Because of this, his life was full of continual joy.
[Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1982).]
For Reflection:
o I am aware that today commemorates Jesus’ death on the cross.
o Perhaps I sit quietly for a moment and simply rest in God.
o I become aware that God is within me, closer than my breath, and that God is around me, inhabiting everything that is.
o God is with me, no matter where I am . . . no matter what I am doing.
Good Friday – April 10, 2020
Brother Lawrence communicated with God by going about his ordinary work.
For most of us, our “ordinary work” has changed in recent weeks. For Brother Lawrence, ordinary work meant working in the monastery kitchen and repairing shoes in the monastery cobbler shop. For us, “ordinary work” is very different.
But this monk’s emphasis remains the same. Whatever we do, God is our center. God is the focus of who we are and what we do. This takes our eyes off preoccupation with the situation around us or off trying to please those around us.
When we do our work in this way, we truly do “pray always,” as Paul suggested in 1 Thess. 5:17. You cannot “pray continually” or “pray without ceasing” if prayer is nonstop talking or conversation. But Brother Lawrence discovered the key to continual communion with God. Do everything you do in conscious contact with God.
He thought it was a shame that some people pursued certain activities (which, he noted, they did rather imperfectly due to human shortcomings), mistaking the means for the end. He said that our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves.
The most effective way Brother Lawrence had for communicating with God was to simply do his ordinary work. He did this obediently, out of a pure love of God, purifying it as much as was humanly possible. He believed it was a serious mistake to think of our prayer time as being different from any other. Our actions should unite us with God when we are involved in our daily activities, just as our prayer unites us with Him in our quiet time.
He said his prayers consisted totally and simply of God’s presence. His soul was resting in God, having lost its awareness of everything but love of Him. When he wasn’t in prayer, he felt practically the same way. Remaining near to God, he praised and blessed Him with all his strength. Because of this, his life was full of continual joy.
[Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1982).]
For Reflection:
o I am aware that today commemorates Jesus’ death on the cross.
o Perhaps I sit quietly for a moment and simply rest in God.
o I become aware that God is within me, closer than my breath, and that God is around me, inhabiting everything that is.
o God is with me, no matter where I am . . . no matter what I am doing.
Comments
Post a Comment