Brother Lawrence (1614–1691)

I’m not sure what to say about this book, save that it describes a simple, yet not necessarily easy path to be at one with God. This path is described through a series of conversations, letters, principles and ways.

As someone who lives with a serious and enduring mental illness, I came away from this relatively short read, which by the way I first read some fifteen years ago, with a sense that although this is a practice that I could aspire to I would find it difficult to realise. This is mainly due to my racing thoughts.

However, I have been practicing recently the Jesus Prayer with the aid of an Orthodox prayer rope, and I have found this very helpful in returning to the solid ground that the author describes through the use of this simple prayer.

I believe that the key to this book lies in its title - the Practice of the Presence of God. God is the ground of our being and to find Him we need to seek Him in His simplicity. We only achieve this by the gift of His Grace and a surrendering of our will, and this as the title suggests requires practice.… (mere)