“I went to see Brother Lawrence for the first time today. He told me that God had given him a strange and wonderful gift through his conversion, which occurred when he was eighteen and still 'in the world.' This happened before he entered the monastery. One day in winter as he was looking at a barren tree, stripped of its leaves, and considering how in a little while these leaves would reappear, green, followed by flowers and fruits, he received a profound awareness of God’s kindness and power that never left his soul since. With this awareness he completely detached himself from the world, and it gave him such a love for God that he could not say it had ever increased during the more than forty years since he received this gift.
“Brother Lawrence said that we must ground ourselves in God’s presence by continually conversing with Love, and that it’s a shame to leave this conversation with our divine Friend for thoughts that are sarcastic or shallow. We can nourish our soul best with a high consideration of God, the loving Trinity, which is how we draw great joy from being with them.
“We must animate our faith. He said it’s a pity that we have so little. Instead of taking faith as our guide for living, we busy ourselves with small devotions that vary every day. This way of faith is the spirit, heart, and mind of the community of Love’s friends. And it’s all we need to flourish and arrive at a high level of loving awareness.”
