Words from Brother Lawrence

"That practice which is alike the most holy, the most general, and the most needful in the spiritual life is the practice of the presence of God. It is the schooling of the soul to find its joy in His divine companionship, holding with Him at all times and at every moment humble and loving converse, without set rule or stated method, in all time of our temptation and tribulation, in all time of our dryness of soul and disrelish of God, yes, and even when we fall into unfaithfulness and actual sin.

We should apply ourselves unceasingly to this one end, to so rule all our actions that they be little acts of communion with God; but they must not be studied, they must come naturally, from the purity and simplicity of the heart. 

We must do all things thoughtfully and soberly without impetuosity or precipitancy, which denotes a mind undisciplined. We must go about our labors quietly, calmly, and lovingly, entreating Him to prosper the works of our hands. By thus keeping heart and mind fixed on God, we shall bruise the head of the evil one, and beat down his weapons to the ground." -Brother Lawrence 

Dead End

When I took these DEAD END pictures, the scene stuck with me.  I simply wanted to take a photo of the flooding but I had a strong sense these were photos of something else. I kept running through all the struggles, sins and what not that result in a dead end but that isn’t what this closed off area was sparking inside me.  

In this Season of Lent, God teaches us to go through the suffering, not run away.  

And as I stood looking at the Dead End Sign standing in water I thought of the Israelites. 

Moses led 600,000 people out of Egypt through the desert toward the Red Sea as they journeyed to the Promised Land.  Pharaoh had become upset that he lost his working slaves so he sent his army after Moses and the Israelites to try and get them back.  Coming upon the Red Sea, to the Israelites it looked like a totallyDEAD END situation. To the east was the sea. To the south and west, there were mountains, and to the north was Pharaoh’s army. The Israelites were trapped.

How often have we found ourselves in an impossible situation, seemingly no way out? And how do we handle it?  Many of us are no different than the Israelites who were afraid and began to take it out on Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us to the desert to die? Weren’t there any graves in Egypt? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? We told you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians.’ It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die here in the desert!” - Exodus 14: 11-12

Moses answered the people- “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm. You will see how the Lord will save you today. Do you see those Egyptians? You will never see them again. The Lord will fight for you. Just be still.” -Exodus 14:13-14

I have trouble being still when I’m not afraid, I can’t imagine trying to be still when warriors are chasing me. That's real faith. Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people of Israel to move on. Hold your wooden staff out. Reach your hand out over the Red Sea to part the water. Then the people can go through the sea on dry ground.” - Exodus 14:15-16

The Lord told Moses to stop “crying out to me” and get moving! Prayer must have an ongoing crucial place in our daily lives, yet there is also a place for action. Sometimes we know what to do, but we keep praying for more guidance as an excuse to postpone doing it. If we know what we should do, then it is time to get moving.

When we find ourselves caught in a problem and see no way out. Don’t panic; stand firm and be still ---God can open up a way. Pray and ….

"Do Whatever He Says" - John 2:5

THE NAME, HEART FLASHES

The Prayer of Jesus is the chief weapon of the Remnant that must be fought in the battleground of (for) the heart, the method is to invoke the Name of Jesus over and over again in the heart, as flashes of lightning appear in the sky before the rain (Joel 2:23).  

The Name of Jesus is the lightning flash which, when repeated in the sky of the heart (the nous), induces the healing rain of Divine grace to water the "earth of the heart".  (i.e. the nous, mind is the sky of the earth or the heart, the sky coming down to the earth with the lightning of the Holy Name invoked and as the sky delivers this rain, the earth (heart) opens to receive and there the Name is invoked by the heart. (MLP 1:158).  

Furthermore the heart is truly a cosmos: sky, atmosphere, rain, earth, fruit producing, all pointing to the existence of life, as with the earth, only the heart has life. 

 "Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all." - Phil. 2:17

And so this is Advent

Today begins the preparatory Season of Advent.

Advent wreath at table in Holy Trinity Kellia, St. Simeon Skete

The Gospel for 1st Sunday of Advent
St. Matthew xxi. 1.

WHEN they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name 'of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. 

Jesus tells His disciples to go into the city  AND He tells them to find a tethered colt that no one had ridden.   
Think about that image:  "a tethered colt which no one has ridden..."

Young mule of Denny & JoanE Markwell,  members of St. Simeon Skete

Of course the people are waiting for a dominative, powerful, substantive image - a King, A Ruler who is going to change everything from the outside (the surface).  

But Jesus says "I'm not going to come in on a horse, in triumph but ...as Zechariah 9:9 prophesied... I'm coming in on a donkey to redefine what power is, worth is, strength is, trust is...

This colt/donkey, THIS powerless image is a tethered colt, its been tied up in all of history.  No one's ever wanted to use it, no one's ridden this kind before but Jesus is going to ride it into the city to show the world a different way, a new way, the way of trust, the way of vulnerability, the way of powerlessness.  


When your generosity has been tied up, loosen it and when greed rises up and asks "what are you doing?", say, "The Lord has need of it"  When your humility is tied up, loosen it and when pride questions you, say "The Lord has need of it."  When your forgiveness is tied up, untie it and when mercilessness asks you "why?,  say "The Lord has need of it." 
As Jesus rides into the city in this "different way" the people wonder "Who is this?"  "What is this new way?"  Jesus upsets the system and says: "its prayer". 

Jeremy Lopez, in prayer before his Confirmation.  Nazareth House Apostolate, Athens, Georgia

Of all the battles that God has with human consciousness, the battle to get rid of those things (furniture) that keep us from making our souls a house of prayer must be God's most difficult battle.   Culture wants to rearrange the "furniture" by dominative power - the ability to influence others through coercion, hiring and firing, punishing, threatening, lawsuits, money, position.  This will rearrange the "furniture" and most will respond to it.  But at best, this is all we can do: re-arrange the "furniture".   But Jesus doesn't re-arrange the furniture, He pitches it - throws it out - opting for a House of Prayer!  Anything in your life that is keeping you from prayer needs to be pitched! 
As the Holiday Season approaches many will be re-arranging their living rooms to prepare for Holiday guests or give a new look but only PRAYER can change the living room into a LIVING room.  

Personal milagro of Seraphim, housed where he hangs his prayer beads

Advent Collect

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.