SONSHINE: Brother Lawrence

This morning I read a most glorious testimony of a life lived by one who learned to seek God in simplicity and from sincerity of heart. I really do not know of a more glorious biography that I have ever read. It is anything but flashy and totally void of what the world would count as great exploits. This is the story of Brother Lawrence who quietly lived and served God during the seventeenth century. If I was to give any young Christian a biography that exemplifies a true walk in Christ it would be this one which blessed me so profoundly this morning. This is an excerpt, where Lawrence reflects on his time spent as a cook in a monastery.

"In the way of God," he said, "thoughts count for little, love does everything.””

"And it is not necessary," he continued, "to have great things to do. I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God; when it is finished, if I have nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the ground and adore my God, Who gave me the grace to make it, after which I arise, more content than a king. When I cannot do anything else, it is enough for me to have lifted a straw from the earth for the love of God.””

And here are the last pages of a life given to Christ as testimony of one totally given to the will of God.

Death did not frighten Brother Lawrence at all. On his deathbed, he displayed marks of a stability, a resignation, and a joy that were quite extraordinary. His hope became firmer and his love more ardent. If he had loved God deeply during his life, he did not love Him any less at death. But the virtue he esteemed above all others - faith - became particularly vigorous, penetrating him with its grandeur and enlightening him by its radiance.

He was given some final time alone to reflect on the great grace which God had given him during his life. When asked how he spent that time, he replied that he had been doing what he would be doing for all eternity——"Blessing God, praising God, adoring Him, and loving Him with all my heart. That is our whole purpose, brothers, to adore God and to love Him, without worrying about the rest."

The next day, February 12th, 1691, without any agony and without the loss of any of his senses, Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection died in the embrace of the Lord. At eighty years of age, he gave back his soul to God with the peace and tranquility of a person falling asleep. His death was like a gentle slumber which helped him pass from this life into a more blessed one .........

This is a short bio and one that I am sending to a number of friends for their edification. This I believe is what a life lived unto Him is all about. The link is given below.

Glorify His Name!: The Practice of the Presence of God; The Life of Brother Lawrence
By Joseph de Beaufort

http://glorifyhisname.com/sys-tmpl/ppg5/

Jack

Joian Ruth Schroff

God is good. And Joian, more than any of us, knows this. Our sister, and my best friend, rests in the Father's bosom, today. Dear Joian's sojourn, on earth, ended early last winter, after a period of illness.

Together, Joian and myself began "SONSHINE" in "07". Last June, we took our rest from the blog.

Great battles, were waged this last year, by both Joian and myself. One was taken and one was left. Neither, the taking, nor the leaving, lacks in His perfect providence, afforded each. I can't explain, nor fully understand, how each can be perfect. Never the less, I do know, Joian understands it perfectly.

Today, Joian, more than any, knows God is good.

Jack

PS. Thoughts of your joyful rest relieve my tears, tonight. I miss you, my friend. I'll see you soon.

Great Quotes

Those who believe they believe in God but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God, and not in God, Himself. Madeleine L' Engle
________
"If anything about my salvation or right standing with God depends on my faithfulness, I'm toast, damned to hell." Gavazzoni
________
Any infinite Being who feels it is their duty to torture me for eternity, should switch to decaf. Joe
________
Everyday people are straying away from the church and going back to God. -- Lennie Bruce
________
"He took responsibility for all the evils that have befallen man that day He gave His life. This has never been adequately appreciated by religion. It needs to be appreciated." (Roy)
________
"Isn't that what man always wants- a divine force he can control? That's actually the definition of witchcraft." (Florian)
________
"Christianity is not about polyester and pot roast. It's about Christ and what He's doing in you and me at the moment." (Holly)
________
"It's his life for ours. We die, he lives, and then the mystery is that we live again." (Joian)
________
"God's Spirit, is a pure motive" (Cardinal)
________
"I would rather train twenty men to pray, than a thousand to preach. A minister's highest mission ought to be to teach his people to pray." (H. MacGregor)
________
Pretty soon, everybody will get what they deserve, which is Salvation, Reconciliation, Restitution, Restoration, Immortality and Incorruption - now ain't that the coolest thing! (Keith)
________
The bible is not an owners manual and trying to apply it to our lives reeks of salvation by works. (Cam)
________
I live all the daytime
In faith and in might
And in holy rapture
I die every night (Novalis)
________
Where shall we find an abandonment that is as comprehensive as the will of God. (Fenelon)
________
He wanted no one but God to witness what he did, just as the only reward he expected was God Himself.(description of Bro. Lawrence)
________
The humility of the cross became more desirable to him than all the glory the world had to offer. (description of Bro. Lawrence)
________
Prayer is helplessness casting itself upon power; it is misery seeking peace; it is unholiness embracing purity; it is hatred desiring love. Prayer is corruption panting for immortality; it is the eagle soaring heavenward; it is the dove returning home; it is the prisoner pleading for release; it is the mariner steering for the haven amid the dangerous storm; it is the soul, oppressed by the world, escaping to the empyrean, and bathing its ruffled plumes in the ethereal and the divine.(unknown)