The Practice of the Presence of God
| The Practice of the Presence of God |
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|---|---|
| Author(s) | Brother Lawrence (Nicholas Herman 1605-1691) Compiled by: Father Joseph de Beaufort |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Christian literature |
The Practice of the Presence of God is a text compiled by Father Joseph de Beaufort of the wisdom and teachings of Brother Lawrence, a 17th century Carmelite monk.
It is a collection of his letters, and records made, by other participants in them, of his conversations. A constant theme is the development of an awareness of the presence of God.
Contents |
[edit] About the Author
The first conversation in the book tells us of Brother Lawrence conversion to Christianity. "That in the winter, seeing a tree stripped of its leaves, and considering that within a little time, the leaves would be renewed, and after that the flowers and fruit appear, he received a high view of the Providence and Power of GOD, which has never since been effaced from his soul."[1]
Brother Lawrence, born Nicolas Herman, at the age of 24 joined the Discalced Carmelite order in Paris. He took the religious name "Lawrence of the Resurrection" and spent the rest of his life with this order and died on 12 February 1691. During his time as a monk he had many conversations on the subject of the awareness of the presence of God which were written down; he also wrote some letters about the subject. The conversations and the letters were then taken and compiled into this book by Father Joseph de Beaufort.
[edit] Theme
The basic theme of the book is the development of an awareness of the presence of God. The book is a combination of conversations and letters that Brother Lawrence had undertaken to explain his method in acquiring the presence of God. The basic idea set forth by the book can be summed up with these two quotes, "That he had always been governed by love, without selfish views; and that having resolved to make the love of GOD the end of all his actions, he had found reasons to be well satisfied with his method. That he was pleased when he could take up a straw from the ground for the love of GOD, seeking Him only, and nothing else, not even His gifts."[2] "That in order to form a habit of conversing with GOD continually, and referring all we do to Him; we must at first apply to Him with some diligence: but that after a little care we should find His love inwardly excite us to it without any difficulty."[3]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Practice of the Presence of God full text and audio from Christian Classics Ethereal Library
- The Practice of the Presence of God full text from Project Gutenberg
- The Practice of the Presence of God audio book from Librivox
- The Practice of the Presence of God free online text
- Practicing the Presence of Peace modern rendition of The Practice of the Presence of God by Bear Jack Gebhardt from Amazon.com
- The Practice of the Presence of God (online book)
