All Things are Sacred
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." -Ecclesiastes 9:10
In the book Heroes by Dr. Harold J. Sala, he writes of Brother Lawrence. In 1666, Nicholas Herman, who later became known as Brother Lawrence, was admitted to a lay brotherhood at the Carmelite monastery in Paris. He was assigned kitchen duty which was a challenge for him because he was naturally clumsy. Dr. Sala tells that the way Brother Lawrence tackled his work provided guidelines for victorious living.
"Lawrence believed that even the most mundane and worldly task can be done in love for God, and doing it for the great King gives the most humble task a spiritual purpose." In his book The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence wrote, "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees. . . " (p. 120)
Brother Lawrence began each of his tasks with prayer and then did his work with the love of God. He wrote, "We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed." (p. 120)
To Brother Lawrence, Christianity could be summed up with the words: faith, hope and love. "He said, 'That all things are possible to him who believes, that they are less difficult to him who hopes; that they are more easy to him who loves, and still more easy to him who perseveres in the practice of these three virtues.'" (p. 120)
There are many tasks we must do that we often dislike and find wearisome. We may even find ourselves saying we "hate" this or that task. Dr. Sala encourages us, like Brother Lawrence, to "learn his secret and do it with love for the Lord. Lawrence's practical approach to the presence of Christ is biblical. 'And whatsoever you, . . . do it heartily as unto the Lord and not as unto men' (Colossians 3:23). (p. 120)
"To the believer there should be no task so lowly that it cannot be redeemed by grace. There is no difference between the secular and the sacred, for all things can become sacred. . . Brother Lawrence. . . wrote, 'Practicing the presence of God is the best rule of a holy life.'" (p. 121)
In the book Heroes by Dr. Harold J. Sala, he writes of Brother Lawrence. In 1666, Nicholas Herman, who later became known as Brother Lawrence, was admitted to a lay brotherhood at the Carmelite monastery in Paris. He was assigned kitchen duty which was a challenge for him because he was naturally clumsy. Dr. Sala tells that the way Brother Lawrence tackled his work provided guidelines for victorious living.
"Lawrence believed that even the most mundane and worldly task can be done in love for God, and doing it for the great King gives the most humble task a spiritual purpose." In his book The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence wrote, "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees. . . " (p. 120)
Brother Lawrence began each of his tasks with prayer and then did his work with the love of God. He wrote, "We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed." (p. 120)
To Brother Lawrence, Christianity could be summed up with the words: faith, hope and love. "He said, 'That all things are possible to him who believes, that they are less difficult to him who hopes; that they are more easy to him who loves, and still more easy to him who perseveres in the practice of these three virtues.'" (p. 120)
There are many tasks we must do that we often dislike and find wearisome. We may even find ourselves saying we "hate" this or that task. Dr. Sala encourages us, like Brother Lawrence, to "learn his secret and do it with love for the Lord. Lawrence's practical approach to the presence of Christ is biblical. 'And whatsoever you, . . . do it heartily as unto the Lord and not as unto men' (Colossians 3:23). (p. 120)
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"To the believer there should be no task so lowly that it cannot be redeemed by grace. There is no difference between the secular and the sacred, for all things can become sacred. . . Brother Lawrence. . . wrote, 'Practicing the presence of God is the best rule of a holy life.'" (p. 121)
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