Christian Spirituality, the Practice of the Presence of God - A Book Critique

INTRODUCTIONGenerally, the text is a compendium of the spiritual insights of Bro. Lawrence (whose worldly name was Nicholas Herman) into the heart of God through three areas: letters, conversation and his personal life. One sees in him the determination to be an experiment of living every moment in the presence of God. The co-author, his friend and Abbot, Joseph de Beaufort, greatly helps the reader to see the importance of prayer in the life of Bro. Lawrence.STRENGTHSBro. Lawrence should be commended for leaving behind one of the classic memoirs of the devotional life inspite of the fact that he never received any formal education, a testimony of what can be achieved when one is radically abandoned to God.Another major strength of the book is that Bro. Lawrence taught what he lived and vice versa. He simply confessed his sins to God without making excuses. He clearly shows that he has a general understanding of prayer when he observed that "we must try to converse with God i
n little ways while we do our work, not memorized prayer"(59).WEAKNESSESStating that Bro. Lawrence developed "the most charitable heart in the world" (84) is an unqualified statement. It would have been better if Beaufort had used the phrase ''one of the most'' since it is difficult to know which parameter is used to arrive at that conclusion especially since the concept of spirituality is variously defined in different denominations. Bro. Lawrence''s letters are not dated. Only the last one gave an indication of the year because of the footnotes (see page 54). A major problem is created for the cataloguer in a library or even the general reader to find the name of the co-author. It is a bit unusual and difficult to identify the name of an author in the preface rather than the title or cover page. The cover and title pages therefore give the misleading impression that the work was entirely written by Bro. Lawrence. The statement on page 83 about the shortest way to attain Ch
ristian perfection (penultimate sentence) is a very controversial one since an issue in theology is whether or not Christian perfection could be attained in this life.QUOTABLE QUOTES"If the vessel of our soul is still being tossed by winds or storms, we should wake the Lord Who has been resting with us all along, and He will swiftly calm the sea" (27)."There is no sweeter manner of living in the world than continuous communion with God" (29).RECOMMENDATIONSThis timeless book is an invaluable publication which must be in the library and read by every Christian. It is useful in ministry for everyone who sincerely wants to dwell in the presence of God.

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