THE EVOLUTION OF BROTHER LAWRENCE

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection

decided at eighteen years old

to make God’s love the goal

of all his actions

but he suffered for ten years

due to his preoccupation/anxiety over his sins

despite God showering him

with graces

 

if he was seeking God with his whole/undivided heart

he would have found God

and God’s Love

in all things:

positive and seemingly negative –

in warm sun

and in winter days

when he was healthy

and when he was cold and sick

in bread he ate

and in being hungry

in the song of birds

and in the noise of cities

in his virtue

and in his sin –

“For God hath made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us

that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”

(2 Corinthians 5:21)

 

Brother Lawrence eventually learned

that it is acceptable in God’s sight

to be imperfect

and that we are all subject to

a Higher Law

hidden in every human heart:

that life is all about growth

and we can all evolve

out of chaos and darkness and sin

into Order and Light and Love.

 

12 MARRIAGE TIPS

  1. Assume your partner has good intentions towards you.

2.  Love is perseverance and commitment more than a feeling.

3.  Accept your partner for who they are rather than who you want them to be. Don’t try to change them.

4.  You and your partner are one. Whatever you do to your partner, you indirectly do to yourself.

5.  Marriage is in the ordinariness of everyday life, not constant romance.

6.  You choose each day that you want to be in this relationship.

7.  Choose to see frustrating things about your partner as an opportunity for you to develop kindness, patience, and forgiveness.

8.  Remember why you fell in love with your partner in the first place.

9.  Every relationship experiences difficulties. Successful relationships hang in there through the hard times.

10. Remember that you’re not perfect either.

11. Focus on the good qualities in each other.

12. Have realistic expectations about marriage, yourself and your partner.

http://www.brucetallman.com Facebook: “Bruce Tallman – Spiritual Director and Marriage Coach” email: btallman@rogers.com

3 Big Thoughts for February 25, 2019

  1. The Cosmic Christ was already in the world before Jesus of Nazareth came along. The Cosmic Christ is the light that enlightens everyone who pursues goodness, truth, and beauty in any discipline. This includes non-believers, since the Cosmic Christ is goodness, truth and beauty.
  2. Spiritual seekers went to India in the 1960s and 70s thinking they could become mystics through drugs, sex, or ‘siddhis’ (psychic powers). However the true test of mysticism is becoming merciful as God is merciful.
  3. It is the imperfections in our universe, the wrinkles in space-time, that creates the galaxies, stars, and planets. If space-time was perfectly smooth, nothing would now exist. It is our imperfections that make us human, sensitive creatures. If we were all perfect, life would be perfectly boring.