This past week, I read a quote from renowned Christian thinker, Brother Lawrence, a man who has inspired thousands. Brother Lawrence dedicated his life to serving God as a monk in the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Paris in the 17th century. Brother Lawrence is probably most recognized for his effortless commitment to practicing the presence of God every moment of his life. Lawrence wanted to be so connected with God that his will and God’s will were aligned completely. He would gauge his progress by checking his “spiritual meter” every few minutes to see if he was connected with God. He would recite the name of Jesus over and over throughout his day as a cook in the community he lived in.
Brother Lawrence’s life is inspiring and truly honorable. However, I’m not sure this is an understanding of God that I can hold to. Is this what life was meant to be? Am I supposed to be checking my radar constantly to see if I’m aligned with God? Is my purpose to try to “talk” and “listen” to God every moment of my life? Should I be focusing all my efforts on having him on the forefront of my mind, no matter what I’m actually doing?
I think not.
My understanding of God comes from another angle. It seems that for Brother Lawrence, faith was about “bringing” God to the forefront in every matter of life through strict discipline and years of tireless work and practice. My image of God makes Him much more integral than that. God, for me, is the one in whom I live and move and have my being. He is the image innate in each one of his beloved creatures.
John Robinson describes God as “ultimate reality.” God is the depth of all things; everything is made and sustained from him. He calls all things into being at all times. The God of ultimate reality is a God who is active and present in all areas of his created world.
So maybe faith isn’t about trying to incorporate God more into the world. Maybe life is not about spending more time disengaged from the world around us to be engaged with God. Maybe our purpose isn’t to “think” about God more and say more and more prayers throughout the day.
Perhaps we need to become more aware, instead. This might seem like a minute shift but I think it has extensive implications. Maybe this is what the Psalmist had in mind when he said that, “deep calls out to deep” (Psalm 42:7). This deep God, this Ultimate Reality, who is within us all and within everything yet somehow transcendent of all as well, is connecting with the deep in the world around him.
In Genesis, we find the story of a man named Jacob who is journeying when one day, God speaks to him from a dream. Jacob wakes and exclaims, “God was in this place and I was not aware” (Genesis 28:16). So many of us live our lives waiting and wishing for God to speak and interact with us and all the while he has been there and we just haven’t been aware of it.
This understanding of God as ultimate reality should deeply affect how we live. Now, when someone is really hurting in front of us, our response should not be the same as it would have been before. Now, our response doesn’t have to be “I will be praying for you.” Instead, if we live what we believe about God, then truly being present for that person, empathizing with them, crying with them, being with them is an act of prayer. By connecting with someone else, someone who has the image of God within them, who at their core is held together by Ultimate Reality, that connection is prayer. Prayer doesn’t have to be a time of disengagement from the world but should be time spent fully engaged in the world. I would argue that some of the most powerful times in your life will occur when someone else is fully present with you, whether during a time of mourning or simply by allowing you to share a dark, difficult secret and loving you anyway. In these times, deep will call out to deep.
Brother Lawrence was on to something. But perhaps we can practice the presence of God even more. I think being aligned with God’s will is not something we must constantly be attempting and trying to fulfill. I think its much more organic than that.
So, how do we align ourselves with God’s will? We become engaged in the world. We become more present with those we journey through life with. We connect with God through the world. We learn to have God on the forefront every moment not by keeping track of a radar but by being aware and connected to the God who is already present in every moment everywhere.
