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“You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your heart — your stories, visions, memories, visions and songs. Your truth, your version of things, your own voice. That is really all you have to offer us. And that’s also why you were born.”
Anne Lamott

“You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your heart — your stories, visions, memories, visions and songs. Your truth, your version of things, your own voice. That is really all you have to offer us. And that’s also why you were born.”
Anne Lamott

Category: The Presence of God

The Presence of God (3)

George 0 Comments

The practice of the Presence of God is the most holy, the most all-encompassing, and the most necessary practice of the spiritual life. It trains the soul to find its joy in His Divine Companionship. Bro Lawrence

Having read the book some years earlier, plus considerable experience teaching and leading, I volunteered to lead a men’s group in a study of The practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. I developed a syllabus for the study complete with goals, expectations and topics for discussion. Diving into reading and study my confidence was immediately shaken.

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 
Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 

Psalm 139

There is no sweeter and delightful life than that of continual communion with God. Only those who experience this and practice it can comprehend it. Yet I do not advise you to undertake this practice from that motive. We should not seek pleasure in this exercise. Instead let us do it out of love and because God desires it.

Bro Lawrence

The spiritual life begins when one wakes up to the presence of God and experiences this reality for oneself. The omnipresence of God is more than a theological doctrine; it is experiential reality. The spiritual life begins in earnest when one wakes up.
This type of awakening is the heart of Christianity. It moves us from the realm of beliefs and ideas, emotions and rituals, into the Presence of God.

Marshall Davis

Mystery is not something you can’t know. Mystery is endless knowability. Living inside such endless knowability is finally a comfort, a foundation of ultimate support, security, unrestricted love, and eternal care. For all of us, it takes much of our life to get there; it is what we surely mean by “growing” in faith. 

Richard Rohr

Grappling with —”knowledge too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” — misconceptions about practicing the presence of God were unmasked.

First, assuming practicing presence of God to be an educational issue. Unfortunately, for a long time, I assumed diligent study and improved techniques would produce spiritual growth. Most of my efforts at spiritual formation have been overly, even excessively, education-based. In recent years that assumption was challenged and refuted but its resilience was apparent in preparing for the study. Ironically, serious inquiry into the practice of the presence of God revealed a another way of knowing; not discarding education/study but ‘ …an awakening of the heart. moving us from the realm of beliefs and ideas, emotions and rituals, into the Presence of God.”1 Marshall Davis — a game changer.
“He surrendered himself to an attitude of faithful devotion and insight rather than reasoning and thinking“. 2 Bro Lawrence

A second misconception — the Practice of the Presence of God is self improvement.
American Christianity is a therapeutic culture, we approach faith as therapy. The trouble with this therapeutic milieu is that it is ego-centric and reduces the cross of Christ [the presence of God] to a feel-good, psychotherapeutic intervention (Jesus Loves Me!, 1 Cross + 3 Nails = 4 Given, and the Jesus’s footprints in the sand parable).3 Richard Beckhttp://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2008/08/therapeutic-culture-of-american.html
That misconception was implicit in the goal of our study: Become better disciples of Jesus. Certainly, being in the presence of God produces better disciples, but “The change or transformation that God desires is not found in our improvement. Rather, it is our union with Him and our transformation into His image and likeness. Christ has not come to improve us, but to remake us from the inside out.  4Fr Stephen Freeman The presence of God produces humility and repentance, prerequisites to God’s transforming work.

Encountering the practice of the presence of God has proven to be a significant spiritual milestone. I am still seeking to understand the depth and breath of its mystery. Hopefully, you will join me in pursuit of the presence of God.
More to come.

STILL ON THE JOURNEY

The Presence of God (2)

George 4 Comments

Be careful what you wish for..

In 2006 I reflected on my ambition to become a mystic:
Mystic…one who recognizes the presence of God in the mundane. A person who can sense the power and presence of God at work; who has the ability to see the real hand and power and presence of God. Someone who is so connected to the spiritual world that it changes how they live in the physical world. (Josh Graves)
Running in the background of my spiritual journey in the intervening years that ambition has been mostly unfulfilled.
Last fall there was an opportunity to participate in a men’s discipleship group studying The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence1https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Presence-God-Brother-Lawrence/dp/0883681056. Having read the book years earlier I recognized an opportunity to renew my ambition to become a mystic, or more realistically, become mystical. Responsible for leading the discussions, in my usual “grab hold and get it done” mode, I immediately set about planning and organizing. Below is the syllabus for our study:

Goal: Become better disciples of Jesus.
Expectation for participants:
Read “The Practice of the Presence of God” before first meeting.
Participate weekly in 1-1.5 hour conversations, prayer and study of discipleship, using “The Practice of the Presence of God” as a discussion starter.
Outline (Preliminary to be revised as necessary as dictated by study and discussions)

Sept 14• Personal introductions
• Introduction to “The Practice of the Presence of God”
Sept 21• Questions and thoughts on “The Practice of the Presence of God”
Sept 28• What comes into our mind when you think about God?
Oct 5The presence of God
Oct 12• The presence of God in a secular age
Oct 19• The presence of God and discipleship
Oct 26• Spiritual Formation and practice of the presence of God
Nov 2• Practicing the presence of God in a post Christian world.
Nov 9• 1st mistake of practicing the presence of God
Nov 16• Summary and conclusions

My experience studying the presence of God with the men’s group was akin to discovering the back of an old wardrobe is a door into another world. I was gripped with surprise and unexpected encounters.  As an example, the following citations from the book produced some early consternation:

“The practice of the Presence of God is the most holy, the most all-encompassing, and the most necessary practice of the spiritual life. It trains the soul to find its joy in His Divine Companionship. He told me that it all consists in one hearty renunciation of everything that does not lead to God. In this manner we develop the practice of continual communion with Him in freedom and simplicity.“

“He surrendered himself to an attitude of faithful devotion and insight rather than reasoning and thinking.“

“There is no sweeter and delightful life than that of continual communion with God. Only those who experience this and practice it can comprehend it. Yet I do not advise you to undertake this practice from that motive. We should not seek pleasure in this exercise. Instead let us do it out of love and because God desires it.”

The Practice of the Presence of God

Presumptions of my syllabus were immediately challenged, requiring me to rethink my whole approach to a study of the presence of God. It also dawned on me that I was facing the possibility of an unfamiliar and frightening reality,—personally experiencing the real presence of God. I was acutely aware, as one author noted: “Secularism does not deny that God exists, but rather states that He has His place and does not necessarily affect other areas of our lives.” 2Everywhere Present -Fr Stephen Freeman applied to me.

Further engagement with scripture and writings about the presence of God only heightened my dismay.

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 
Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 

Psalm 139:1-5

The spiritual life begins when one wakes up to the presence of God and experiences this reality for oneself. The omnipresence of God is more than a theological doctrine; it is experiential reality. The spiritual life begins in earnest when one wakes up.
This type of awakening is the heart of Christianity. It moves us from the realm of beliefs and ideas, emotions and rituals, into the Presence of God.
Awakening is always experienced as a gift. It is not something we can work at and achieve by our religious efforts or moral living.
We all have sinned when it comes to believing that we can define God. No one understands God.
But we can experience God. By this I mean that we can be aware of the presence of God. As
soon as we try to describe this awareness in ideas and words, then we fall short.

Marshall Davis

 “Holy, holy , holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Isaiah 6

…mystery isn’t something that you cannot understand—it is something that you can endlessly understand! There is no point at which you can say, “I’ve got it.” Always and forever, mystery gets you!

Richard Rohr

Suspended between— the greatest need of my life 3 “The greatest need in our life is the presence of God.”–Paul Smith — and —the prospect of being naked in the presence of my Creator, from whom nothing is hidden— describes the paradox of the presence of God.

Succeeding posts will address various aspects of practicing the presence of God.

STILL ON THE JOURNEY

  • 1
    https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Presence-God-Brother-Lawrence/dp/0883681056
  • 2
    Everywhere Present -Fr Stephen Freeman
  • 3
    “The greatest need in our life is the presence of God.”–Paul Smith

The Presence of God

George 1 Comment

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast. If I say,
“Surely the darkness will hide me and
the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

Psalm 139:7-12

This the first in a series of posts on “The Presence of God”. Spawned by a men’s discipleship group study of Brother Lawrence’s – The Practice of the Presence of God, their purpose is to share insights from that study and open a window to exciting and challenging possibilities for spiritual transformation.

Disclaimer: In no way are these posts a definitive understanding of the Presence of God or their implications to our spiritual life. They are intended to inform and and arouse curiosity that will stimulate further examination.

If, as Marshall Davis asserts; “The doctrine of the Fall is about the loss of the Presence of God.” , it follows our redemption is centered in the restoration of the presence of God. Therefore the presence of God is the most accurate barometer of our spiritual well-being.1 “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
John 14:23 NIV

As we begin consider these quotes:

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. 
First, God.
God is the subject of life. God is foundational for living, if we don’t have a sense of the primacy of God, we will never get it right, get life right, get our lives right. Not God at the margins; not God as an option; not God on the weekends.
God at center and circumference;
God first and last;
God, God, God.

A W Tozer

In the midst of life, we “practice the presence of God” by listening and speaking to him in every circumstance. Spiritual formation happens through a life of contemplation. In the midst of our daily activities, we ponder and meditate on God’s words and works. We talk to him in prayer. We listen, we question, we complain. We give thanks, make requests, and express our doubts. We study, analyze, and consider how to apply his teachings. We walk or sit silently with him and enjoy his presence. For a believer the veil between this world and the “heavenly places” is thin and there is constant interaction between the two realms. 

iMonk  https://imonk.blog/2013/05/26/another-look-spiritual-formation-what-is-it/

Those with an incomplete or tainted vision of God either want to use him or dismiss him. But when a full, clear, and rapturous vision of God is presented, we will not settle for anything less than being with him. This complete vision of God and his character comes not from within us, but is gifted to us in Jesus who “is the image of the invisible God.”

Skye Jethanti “With”  https://www.amazon.com/Reimagining-Way-You-Relate-God/dp/1595553797

One of the most fundamental principles of the Christian vision of reality is that God is present everywhere, filling all things. This underlies the essential Christian task of becoming consciously aware of that Presence and bringing that awareness into every aspect of our life.
…to have communion with God means to have a share in His Divine Life. He lives in me and I in Him. I come to know God even as I know myself. I come to love even as God loves, because it is His love that dwells in me. I come to forgive as God forgives, because it His mercy that dwells within me.

Everywhere Present – Fr Stephen Freeman https://www.amazon.com/Everywhere-Present-Christianity-One-Storey-Universe/dp/1936270102

“One of the most fundamental principles of the Christian vision of reality is that God is present everywhere, filling all things. This underlies the essential Christian task of becoming consciously aware of that Presence and bringing that awareness into every aspect of our life.” 

Tim Keller

Hopefully those statements are helpful in understanding the essentiality of the presence of God in our spiritual life.

The goal of this series is captured by Keller:”…becoming consciously aware of that Presence and bringing that awareness into every aspect of our life.“

STILL ON THE JOURNEY

  • 1
    “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
    John 14:23 NIV