Practicing the Presence (Sixth Letter)

For my part I keep myself retired with Him in the depth of center of 
my soul as much as I can; and while I am so with Him I fear nothing; but the least turning from Him is insupportable.  (-Br. Lawrence)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (-Apostle Paul; Philippians 4:4-7)

I can't help but think that that these passages are closely linked.  I once heard a pastor talking about the "peace that surpasses understanding" in this way (and I paraphrase):  Have you ever thought about the ocean in a storm?  On the surface, things may be going crazy: waves crashing, swells, rain, winds, lightening, thunder.  It can be a really scary place.  But, if you go just a couple hundred feet below the surface, things are completely different.  The water below the surface is relatively unaffected by the storm.  Just a little ways down, there is peace and calm and stillness.

"I keep myself in the depth of center of my soul as much as I can" Br. Lawrence writes.  When our lives are grounded in Christ; when we center our lives in the depths - below the surface chaos - we find there a "peace that surpasses understanding," a life free from the tyranny of fleeting anxiety, a joy that will not easily abandon us.  

This is my hope for my life (and yours) as we go on this journey together this year.  My prayer is that as we live with mindfulness, we will begin to live, more and more, with depth as well - that we will not be thrown to and fro by troubles that are here today and gone tomorrow, but that we will live out of a rich wellspring of life that is bubbling up within us.  My prayer is that we may know the peace the Apostle Paul is talking about.  My prayer is that we me know the freedom from fear to which Br, Lawrence refers.  My prayer is that each new day will become a day of resurrection, a day where we are "born again" into God's kingdom and into his presence.  My prayer is that we will bring that kingdom into tangible reality in our church and in our community, drawing others into a deeper, fuller, more mindful life, to the glory of God.  Amen.