“He’s nearer than you can imagine.” (36)
This was Brother Lawrence’s summary of his image of God in The Practice of the Presence of God (Whitaker House, 1982). “It isn’t necessary that we stay in church in order to remain in God’s presence,” he went on to explain (36). His close friend, Joseph de Beaufort, wrote that “Everything was the same to him–every place, every job. The good brother found God everywhere, as much while he was repairing shoes as while he was praying with the community. He was in no hurry to go on retreats because he found the same God to love and adore in his ordinary work as in the depth of the desert.” (89)
This kitchen cook in a Carmelite monastery in Paris practiced a spirituality rooted in one fundamental truth: God is with us. God is just as available to us for communion in an office cubicle, school classroom, or nursery as he is in a cathedral. God is just as accessible on Monday in ordinary routines as he is on Saturday or Sunday in sacred routines.
In A Little Guide to Christian Spirituality, Glen Scorgie writes about three dimensions to our life with God. Christian spirituality is summarized significantly as God being with us (relational), God working in us (transformational), and God working through us (vocational). I’ve pictured this below as a triangle.
Brother Lawrence reminds us of one of the important pieces of the first aspect of spirituality. We can experience the “with-ness” of God in kitchen or cathedral. On Sunday or Monday.
He’s nearer than you can imagine.
