Could a sixteenth-century monk, whose spiritual depth translated into a publishing phenomenon, give today’s Christian leaders the inspiration and hope they’re looking for?
Leaders are currently beset with workplace potholes and pitfalls. How can a historical figure provide some spiritual direction in this hour of uncertainty?
The monk was Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. His classic book, The Practice of the Presence of God contains seven spiritual essentials that can strengthen and guide every leader—no matter what he or she is facing in life, or at work:
“I confess to him all my wickedness, I ask His forgiveness, I abandon myself in His hands that He may do what He pleases with me. The King, full of mercy and goodness, very far from chastising me, embraces me with love, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the key of His treasures; He converses and delights Himself with me incessantly, in a thousand and a thousand ways, and treats me in all respects as His favorite.”
“Give Him thanks, if you please, with me, for His great goodness towards me, which I can never sufficiently admire, for the many favors He has done to so miserable a sinner as I am. May all things praise Him. Amen.”
"We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of Him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before Him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God."
“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God; those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it.”
“We should put life in our faith. We should give ourselves utterly to God in pure abandonment, in temporal and spiritual matters alike, and find contentment in the doing of His will, whether He takes us through sufferings or consolations."
“The trust we put in God, honors Him much, and draws down great graces.”
“The most holy and important practice in the spiritual life is the presence of God—that is, every moment to take great pleasure that God is with you.”
If there’s an eighth way Brother Lawrence might be speaking to you right now, it might be this simple conclusion:
“All we must do is recognize God’s intimate presence within us and speak to him at every moment, asking Him for His help. In this way we will know His will in doubtful things and we will do those things that He is clearly asking of us, offering them to Him before doing them and giving Him thanks for having done them once we have finished.”