NINTH LETTER

Here is my reply to the letter I received from ——, please deliver it to her. She seems to me full of good will, but she would go faster than grace. One does not become holy overnight. You should take her advice: we should be positive examples to one another. Please let me know how she is doing periodically, and whether she is very fervent and very obedient.

Remember that our only business in this life is to please GOD, and that everything else is folly and vanity. We have both been monastics for about forty years. Were they used for loving and serving GOD, who by His mercy called us to this state and to that end? In considering the great favors which God has done and continues to do me, as well as the use I have made of them, and the insignificant progress I have made toward perfection, I feel shame and confusion.

We still have time in His mercy to begin in earnest: let us repair the lost time: let us return to that FATHER of mercies who is always ready to receive us affectionately. Let us renounce, let us generously renounce, all that is not Him, for the love of Him; He deserves infinitely more. He deserves to be thought of constantly. Let us be wholly trusting in Him. I doubt not but we shall soon find the effects of it in receiving the abundance of His grace, with which we can do all things, and without which we can do nothing but sin.

It is impossible to escape the dangers that abound in life without the actual and continual help of GOD. Therefore, we must continually pray for it. It is impossible to pray to Him without being in His presence. If we do not think about Him often, how can we be with Him? As a result, we should make it a holy habit to think of Him often. Surely you are tired of hearing me say the same thing over and over. It is true, for this is the best and simplest method I know; and because I use no other, I advise everyone to use it. Knowledge precedes love. In order to know GOD, we must often think of Him; and when we love Him, we will also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure. This argument is well worth your consideration.

I am, Yours, &c.

The Practice of The Presence Of God: Study Journal with Spiritual Maxims Kindle Edition

3 in 1 – 30 days Study Journal – the actual book of Brother Lawrence, the Practice of the Presence of God and the Spiritual Maxims