Some Quotes...

I have recently been reading through the book entitled The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, a sort of Catholic saint from the seventeenth century. The book is a compilation of Lawrence's conversations with and letters to other saints, as well as his ways of living and some spiritual principles. Besides the fact that I am greatly enjoying the many Old English phrases, the content of the book has proven to be quite beneficial to my every-day living. Here's a few quotes from the book so far:

"Thoughts spoil everything. All evil begins there. We must take care to set them aside as soon as we observe them not to be necessary for the task of the moment or for our salvation, so that we can begin again our converse with God, wherein is our only good." (p. 24)

"We should in all confidence ask for his grace without regard to what we think, relying only on the infinite merits of our Lord." (p.29)

"It" is "enormous self-deception to believe that the time of prayer must be different from any other." (p. 29)

"We are to be pitied for being satisfied with so little. God...has boundless treasures to give us, and" yet "a moment's sense of devotion is enough for us! We are blind who so bind the hands of God, and we stem the abundance of his grace. When he finds a soul imbued with living faith, into it he pours grace on grace, a flowing stream, as it were, which, checked in its proper course, and finding a new outlet spreads wide with force, abundantly." (p.36)

"At supper and in the midst of conversation, lift your heart at times towards him. The smallest remembrance will always please him. It is not needful at such times to cry aloud. He is nearer to us than we think." (p.41)