Brother Lawrence was eighty years old when he died in1691.  His lifetime had been spent humbly praising God in the kitchen and in the sandal repair shop of the Discalced Carmelite Priory in Paris.

As a young man, he had gazed upon a tree in wintertime, and was transformed by the similarity between the tree and his soul.  While the tree appeared dead, he was assured that within it was new life. Likewise, though he felt his soul dead, he embraced the ever abundant presence of God’s love within him. 

From that moment on, he praised God in every moment—through every mundane chore he performed.  If he fried an egg; he adored God’s bounty and goodness.  When he aligned a sandal stitch; he beheld God’s evidence in his skill to mend. 

Although Lawrence held a lowly position, his quiet spirituality and peaceful nature led many to befriend him.  Among his closest friends was Father Joseph de Beaufort, who later became the vicar general to the Archbishop of Paris.  He was deeply inspired by Lawrence’s simple, yet intense love of God.  After Lawrence’s death, deBeaufort penned the conversations they had shared, his friend’s maxims, and a brief biography of his life.   These he joined to the letters he treasured from Lawrence to compile The Practice of the Presence of God.

In our contemporary busyness, Brother Lawrence reminds us that God is ever present in us: while we peel potatoes, wait at a traffic light,or read this book review—in everything. Therefore, seek Him out.  Lawrence affirms, “God won’t allow a soul that is searching for Him to be comforted anywhere other than with Him...sacrifice some time in His presence.”

Book Review by Joanne Bennardo