EVERYTHING IS GONNA BE ALRIGHT

With both The Church and The Government in chaos, it would be easy to throw up our hands in frustration and just give ourselves over to the fates, but we can't give in to the temptation.

Now is the time when our faith in and understanding of Jesus and our heavenly father is tested. He is with us through the chaos. That is the gift. Whether he allows events, directs them, or has no part in them at all, one thing is certain, and that is his presence.

The Practice of the Presence of God is a wonderful little book the contains a collection of teachings of Brother Lawrence, a Carmelite monk of the 1600's, which was compiled by Father Joseph de Beaufort. It is one of the primary books that I leaned upon while a nun in the Hindu convent and which is largely responsible for my conversion to Catholicism and its wonderful mystical tradition.

The development and maintenance of a constant inner awareness of the Divine remains an essential element of my spiritual journey and one which I recommend highly to everyone because, in the end, it is God alone on whom we can depend to accompany us through every trial and travail. While he may or may not step into the procession of events in this world, as far as changing the action or the outcome, he is certainly with us in love, regardless of what happens.

If you want to give yourself over in relationship to the Lord, you can feel the love of God, feel him within you, and enjoy his presence. Much of the contemplative tradition is about this process of inclining the mind toward the Lord and residing within him, and He in us.

There are stages in which we may not be gifted with the consolations of feeling God within us. That does happen, but usually only for the advanced practitioner. Mother Teresa of Calcutta experienced it for 30 years - something I was terribly surprised to learn after she died. One doesn't think of the saints suffering in THAT way, at least I never did. The saints do not enjoy the constant beatific vision while floating 6 inches off the ground with choirs of angels singing in the background. No. The saints suffer. They believe, in spite of it.

If anything can put that stupid "prosperity gospel" to shame, it is a thorough education in the lives of the saints. There are no better people than the saints, yet nearly every single one of them had wretched lives. Remember that.

The particular value of Brother Lawrence for our modern, busy lives is that he makes the case for God being more present to us in our daily activities than even in  "the choir stall." The Lord is with us in our duties which occupy most of our time. While I love my practice of contemplation, and enjoy all the beauty of the shrines, holy pictures, candles and incense, even I cannot spend the entire day communing with God with my eyes closed. Like everyone else, I need to be "up and doing." God is "up and doing" with all of us throughout our day. He does not reserve his love for the hour and a half one is at church or sitting at prayer in front of one's altar.

If I wasn't suffering like the saints, I would buy a thousand copies of The Practice of the Presence of God and give them all away, but all I can do is recommend that you read it and hope you pass it along to someone else who might benefit.

Currently, there IS a version you can read AND HEAR online, through the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, which you can access on THIS LINK. I prefer the actual book, which is fairly small and can be carried with you, but the online version will certainly do until you can obtain a copy.

Let us all remind one another to grasp the Lord's hand firmly while we walk through the chaos of this difficult era. Everything will be alright because He will be with us through all of it.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose