It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the idea that even the smallest actions can be meaningful when done with love for God.
In this quote, Brother Lawrence suggests that even the smallest acts, like picking up a straw from the ground, can hold profound significance when they are motivated by love for God. This reflects a deep spiritual belief that true devotion can be found in the simplest of tasks, emphasizing that the intention behind our actions is what gives them value and purpose.
In practice
During a church service when discussing the importance of everyday actions.
In order to form a habit of conversing with GOD continually, and referring all we do to Him, we must at first apply to Him with some diligence: but that after a little care we should find His love inwardly excite us to it without any difficulty.
A little lifting of the heart suffices; a little remembrance of God, one act of inward worship are prayers which, however short, are nevertheless acceptable to God.
If the vessel of our soul is still tossed with winds and storms, let us awake the Lord, who reposes in it, and He will quickly calm the sea.
We should fix ourselves firmly in the presence of God by conversing all the time with Him...we should feed our soul with a lofty conception of God and from that derive great joy in being his. We should put life in our faith. We should give ourselves utterly to God in pure abandonment, in temporal and spiritual matters alike, and find contentment in the doing of His will,whether he takes us through sufferings or consolations.
And it is not necessary to have great things to do. I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God.
That we ought to give ourselves up to GOD, with regard both to things temporal and spiritual, and seek our satisfaction only in the fulfilling of His will, whether He lead us by suffering or by consolation, for all would be equal to a soul truly resigned
At some point in my life I'd honestly hoped love would rescue me from the cold, drafty castle I lived in. But at another point, much earlier I think, I'd quietly begun to hope for nothing at all in the way of love, so as not to be disappointed. It works. It gets to be a habit.
When you look at me, when you think of me, I am in paradise.
He says, he loves my daughter;_x000D_ _x000D_ I think so too; for never gaz'd the moon_x000D_ _x000D_ Upon the water, as he'll stand and read,_x000D_ _x000D_ As 'twere, my daughter's eyes: and, to be plain,_x000D_ _x000D_ I think, there is not half a kiss to choose,_x000D_ _x000D_ Who loves another best.
Some day, the world will discover that, without thought, there can be no love.
I want to let her know though that all the nights sleeping beside her even the useless arguments were things ever splendid and the hard words I ever feared to say can now be said: I love you.
I fell in love with the thought that a human life could be a priestly conduit, a connecting link between earth and sky. As I grew and stumbled and, most important, as I began to love and be loved, I realized that the ultimate priest is the lover inside us
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