Captain of our souls
While reading the great and small work (112 pages) of The Practice of the Presence of God (the cover of this new printing is creepy–the old cover was better) by Brother Lawrence, I came across these nuggets of gold:
The time presses, there is no room for delay; our souls are at stake … Not to advance in the spiritual life is to go back. But those who have the gale of the Holy Spirit go forward even in sleep. If the vessel of our soul is still tossed with winds and storms, let us awake the Lord, who reposes in it, and He will quickly calm the sea.
and
I know that for the right practice of it [enjoying the presence of God] the heart must be empty of all other things, because God will possess the heart alone; and as He cannot possess it alone without emptying it of all besides, so neither can He act there, and do in it what He pleases, unless it be left vacant to Him … Knew we but the want we have of the grace and assistance of God, we should never lose sight of Him–no, not for a moment.
Passages from Brother Lawrence such as these may become my standard weekend entry for the next few weeks. The book aims to teach how to be in the presence of God regardless of one’s surroundings. Its truths are worth loads more than whatever it costs – pick up a copy.
