ON PRACTICING THE PRESENCE OF GOD

First. Practicing the presence of God is the application of our spirit to God; it is the vivid recollection that God is present with us. It can be accomplished either through the imagination or by the understanding.

Second. I know a person who for forty years has practiced the conscious presence of God.* To this practice he gives several other names: sometimes he calls it a simple action, a clear and distinct knowledge of God. Sometimes he refers to it as a blurred, indistinct sight, a general and loving gaze at God, or simply the remembrance of God. At other times he calls it attention to God, a silent conversation with God, confidence in God, or the life and peace of the soul. In short, this person has told me that all these types of the presence of God are only different ways of saying the same thing, and that the presence of God is now so natural that it has become a part of him. Here is how it happened:

Third. Through choosing in his will to frequently recall his spirit into the presence of God, the habit of doing it his has been formed in him in such a way that as soon as his mind is free from its outward duties, and frequently even when he is the busiest with them, the uppermost part of his spirit or the highest part of his soul lifts itself without any diligence on his part, and remains as if it were suspended and firmly held on God, above and beyond all things, as if it were in its center and its place of rest. It is by faith that he almost always feels himself in this suspension, and that is sufficient for him. This is what he calls the state of being actually present with God, so that he now lives as if there were only God and himself in the world. He converses with God no matter where he goes, asking God for what he needs and unceasing delighting himself in Him in countless ways.

Fourth. However, it is fitting to repeat that this conversation with God is done in the depth and at the center of the soul. It is there that the soul speaks to God, heart to heart, always delighting itself in God in a state of great and profound peace. All that happens outside seems to the soul like only a small fire that is extinguished as quickly as it is lit, with the result that outward things succeed to a very little degree or almost never in troubling its interior peace.

Fifth. To come back to our discussion of the presence of God, I maintain that this gentle and loving gaze upon God lights a divine fire in the soul without our being aware of it, and this fire burns so ardently with the love of God that we find ourselves obliged to do a number of outward things in order to moderate it.

Sixth. We would be quite surprised if we knew what the soul sometimes says to God, who seems to take such great pleasure in these conversations that He permits the soul complete freedom, provided that it wishes to remain always with Him and rely on Him. And, as though He were afraid that the soul might return to created things, God takes care to supply it so well with all that it can desire that over and over it finds deep within itself a source of nourishment that is very savory and delicious to its taste, although it never desired it or procured it in any way, and without its having contributed anything on its part other than its consent.

Seventh. We can conclude that the practice of the presence of God is the life and nourishment of the soul and that it can be obtained with the grace of the Lord. Here are the means of acquiring it:

_________________________
* Brother Lawrence is referring to himself here.