SIXTH LETTER

To the Same.

I got the things you gave her for me from Mrs. ——. I’m wondering why you haven’t told me what you think of the small book I sent you. Pray set heartily about it in your old age. It’s better late than never.

It’s difficult to imagine how religious people could live without the presence of God. At least for me. I fear nothing as long as I am with Him, but to turn from Him in the slightest way is unbearable.

It does not tire the body much; it is, however, appropriate to deprive it occasionally, if not often, of many simple pleasures that are innocent and lawful, since GOD will not permit that one who wishes to be devoted to Him will take any other pleasure than with Him: that is more than reasonable.

So, we don’t have to place any violent restrictions on ourselves. Instead, we have to serve GOD in a holy freedom; we have to do our business faithfully without trouble or disquiet, recalling our minds to GOD mildly and with peace as often as they drift away from Him.

But we should put our whole faith in GOD, and put aside all other cares. This includes some forms of devotion that are very meaningful, but that we engage in unnecessarily, because they’re just means to an end. Thus, when we are in the presence of GOD, we are with Him who is our end. There is no point in getting back to the means. Instead, we can carry on with love, from praise to adoration to desire, from resignation to thanksgiving, and by all the ways the spirit can come up with.

Don’t be put off by it’s repulsion from nature; you just got to love it. At first it seems like wasted time, but you’ve got to keep pushing forward despite all the obstacles. I ask for your prayers, and yours specifically. I am, in our LORD,

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