Traveling with Brother Lawrence: Part II
Stranded in Sanford: Redeeming the Time
“He showed us how, at any moment and in any circumstance, the soul that seeks God may find Him, and practice the presence of God.”
Misery Loves Company
After checking in at a nearby hotel, I noticed an elderly man I’d seen at the train station. Wearing jeans and a sport jacket in the Florida furnace, he looked as baffled now as he did at the station.
“Didn’t I just see you at Amtrak?” I asked.
Startled, he smiled in recognition and threw up his hands in a gesture of disarray. We exchanged a few reactions to our change in circumstances and wished each other a pleasant evening. Misery loves company.
I found my room and began to settle in, with a few trips back and forth to the car to find dinner, a missing toiletry, and my pillow.
Sometimes Only Silence Helps
On one trip to the elevator, as I pushed the call button, a man arrived and waited with me. He looked about as dejected as a soul could look.
“Having a bad day?” I asked him on the elevator. The question took him off-guard. He looked up, down, sideways, confounded—but finally smiled sheepishly and drawled, “No, not really.”
He never made eye contact so I didn’t believe a word of it but guessed that in those few seconds, he reframed his day. Though nothing changed about his circumstances, something shifted internally for him.
I didn’t tell him about my day even though misery loves company. He didn’t need to hear it. Sometimes only silence helps.
When the elevator doors opened, I wished him well and added, “Hope your day improves.” We parted ways, and I asked God, What happened there?
God’s Glory in an Elevator?
Was it a divine appointment? Not exactly a faith exploit, I sensed God had shown up to do something, but what? I couldn’t put my finger on it but felt deeply satisfied. Later that night, I found my answer, reading Brother Lawrence.
“Wherever he was, the light was there, wherever he walked was hallowed ground. He shows us how at any moment and in any circumstance, the soul that seeks God may find him, and practice the presence of God.”
I sensed the Spirit’s activation as the man walked up to wait with me for the elevator. Was God searching me as I searched the man’s downcast face? Was He waiting for me to initiate a moment? Seemed like it, and so I asked the man about his day. Opening a way for him to experience God’s glory even in his troubles, even in an elevator. I hope he did.
My lesson? We talk about divine appointments or a God assignment. What if God’s really teaching us to collaborate with Him in creating divine appointments? What if He was inviting me, “Let’s create divine appointments together!”
Was this what Brother Lawrence demonstrated?
“He showed us how, at any moment and in any circumstance, the soul that seeks God may find Him, and practice the presence of God.”
I hope I did.
Quotes from Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God with Spiritual Maxims, (Grand Rapids: Spire Books, 1958, 1967), 13