© 2018 Linda Buselli
© 2018 The Urantia Book Fellowship
| I, Brother - The Urantia Papers and Issues of Race | Volume 18, Number 1, 2018 (Summer) — Index | Akhenaten |
The following was presented as a plenary speech at the Summer Study Session 2015.
This is the story of two remarkable men who changed the world by sharing their experiences with faith.
Have you ever heard of Brother Laurence? He was a quiet man who entered a monastery in France in 1666. He had no desire to become a priest or to advance in status in the monastery, so as a lay brother, he worked in the kitchens as a cook and dish washer. His entire being was concentrated on a constant awareness of the presence of God, so much so that his writings about his experiences were treasured by all who knew him. After his death, at the urgings of a Cardinal of the Church, these letters and accounts of conversations with him were published under the title The Practice of the Presence of God and have inspired untold millions of readers. This little book has been in constant print for almost 400 years, and is still considered a classic.
What is so special about what Brother Laurence did? He seems to have reached a level of God-consciousness during virtually every moment of his day. In fact, he did what The Urantia Book tells us Jesus did. He maintained a consciousness of God all day, every day, with a constant conversation with Him. He dedicated everything he did to God, and he went way beyond the prescribed prayers of his order. To quote Brother Laurence,
“Do you know the highest kind of life we can experience? There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it; let us do it from a principle of love, and because God would have us.”
Brother Laurence’s writings are very simple compared to passages in The Urantia Book, but they have touched so many minds and hearts because his was a living experience of God’s presence in everything he did. Many of the things he said are not too different from some of the book’s statements. For instance from The Urantia Book :
Those who know God have experienced the fact of his presence, such knowing mortals hold in their personal experience the only positive proof of the existence of the living God which one human being can offer to another. The existence of God is utterly beyond all possibility of demonstration except for the contact between the God- consciousness of the human mind and the God-presence of the Thought Adjuster that indwells the mortal intellect and is bestowed upon man as the free gift of the Universal Father. [UB 1:2.8]
Note this difference of delivery from Brother Laurence:
“ Oh dear friend, the Lord is not outside of you, pouring down favors. The Lord is within you. Seek Him there, within…and nowhere else. ”
Here is another comparison from The Urantia Book :
“ (Prayer) is a spontaneous outburst of God- consciousness .” [UB 91:8.10]
And from Brother Laurence: “My prayers are nothing other than a sense of the presence of God”.
Brother Laurence also said: “I am more united to God in my outward employments than when I leave them for devotion and retirement.”
Compare that with this Urantia Book quote: “The contact of the mortal mind with its indwelling Adjuster, while often favored by devoted meditation, is more frequently facilitated by wholehearted and loving service in unselfish ministry to one’s fellow creatures.” [UB 91:7.1]
The Urantia Book tells us we will be known by our example of living the fruits of the spirit. Here is an observation of Brother Laurence written by someone who knew him:
“ As Brother Laurence found such an advantage in walking in the presence of God, it was natural for him to recommend it earnestly to others. But his example was a stronger inducement than any arguments he could ever have proposed. His very countenance was edifying, with such a sweet and calm devotion appearing to it as could not but affect his beholders. It was observed that in the greatest hurry of business in the kitchen, he still preserved his recollection and heavenly minded business. He did each thing with an even, uninterrupted composure and tranquility of spirit. ‘The time of business said he, does not differ with me from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great a tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament’.”
For anyone interested in a more modern discussion of Brother Laurence’s spiritual journey, Frank Laubach, a Congregational Christian missionary in the mid-twentieth century, gives a detailed account of his attempts and successes in following in Brother Laurence’s footsteps. He served many years in the Philippines. It was during this time that he became known as “the Apostle of the Illiterate” because of his dedication to bringing literacy to the underprivileged. His efforts to accomplish this resulted in organizations around the world that exist today. He is the only American missionary to ever be honored on a U.S. postage stamp.
He became inspired by Brother Laurence, and in his book Practicing His Presence, he gives an interesting account of his experiences in developing a constant consciousness of God. He has many suggestions for beginning the habit of holding a conversation with Him. Here is just a fraction of what he has to say:
“If you lean back to consider some problem, how can you remember the Lord? By forming a new habit. All thought employs silent words and is really conversation with your inner self. Instead of talking to yourself, form the habit of talking to Christ. Some of us who have done this find it so much better that we never want the other way again. …He dwells in us, walks in our minds, reaches out through our hands, speaks with our voices, if we respond to His every whisper.”
Many of his statements mirror some from The Urantia Book. For instance:
“If our destiny is to grow on and on and on, into some far more beautiful creatures than we are now, that means that we need to have the shells broken quite frequently so that we can grow .”
From The Urantia Book :
No chick may be had without the shell, and no shell is of any worth after the chick is hatched. [UB 48:6.32]
Brother Laurence at one point indicates that a few of his associates thought he may be becoming too mystical with these exercises. Both men have been accused of being mystics, yet have functioned in their lives quite successfully and with great joy and faith. In fact, Brother Laurence laughed when accused of being a mystic. He said: “How can anyone who believes in Jesus not be a Mystic?”
And Frank Laubach, who referred to himself as a “modern mystic” commented on it also. He said: “I am well aware of the probability of criticism because it is “mysticism”…or because many people think that the days of direct contact with God, or at least words from God, stopped with the closing of the New Testament.”
Now, how can we follow the examples of these two men? In their books both men gained a mindedness of God’s presence, and both give details of the joy and peace that ensued. Frank Laubach has some suggestions a beginner might consider:
“This is the best way to act: talk a great deal to the Lord. When reading, keep a running conversation with Him about the pages you are reading.”
When you are strolling out of doors alone, you can recall the Lord at least once every minute with no effort. If you wander to a place where you can talk out loud without being overheard, you may speak to the invisible Companion inside you.
I have found that we can establish ourselves in a sense of the presence of God by continually talking with Him.”
At one point he had become discouraged with his efforts:
“Oh, this thing of keeping in constant touch with God, of making Him the object of my thought I cannot do it even half of a day—not yet, but I believe I shall be doing it some day for the entire day. It is a matter of acquiring a new habit of thought.
And later in his efforts:
“Usually, you will feel no deep emotion, but will always have a “peace that passeth all understanding.” Remember, this statement from The Urantia Book? “ Genuine spiritual ecstasy is usually associated with great outward calmness and almost perfect emotional control. ” UB 91:7.3
After almost two years of constant effort, Frank Laubach made this entry in his diary:
“When one has struck some wonderful blessing that all mankind has a right to know about, no custom or false modesty should prevent him from telling it, even though it may mean the unbarring of his soul to the public gaze.”
This simple practice requires only a gentle pressure of the will, not more than a person can exert easily. It grows easier as the habit becomes fixed.
Yet it transforms life into heaven. Everybody takes on a new richness, and all the world seems tinted with glory. I do not, of course, know what others think of me, but the joy which I have within cannot be described. If there were never other reward than that, it would more than justify the practice to me.
Even to approach the knowing of a divine personality, all of man’s personality endowments must be wholly consecrated to the effort; half- hearted partial devotion will be unavailing. You can argue over opinions about God, but experience with him and in him exists above and beyond all human controversy and mere intellectual logic. [UB 1:6.5-6]
I have tried to come up with some suggestions based on personal experiences and those of friends. Here some definitions may be needed. For instance, meditation is generally understood to imply the silencing of thought so that the Adjuster can communicate with the individual. The process Brother Laurence and Frank Laubach suggest, rather than an emptying of the mind, is a conscious filling of the mind with the presence of God. Everyone defines meditation according to the way they personally express it, including conversation, so expectations vary among individuals.
A friend of mine came up with a suggestion that was probably the best I’ve ever tried. For one day, I was asked to do the following with every person I met—to imagine the Father’s love moving through me to that individual. I was not to put in my own feelings or interpretations, merely to allow the Father’s love to use me as a conduit. In fact, I wasn’t supposed to think anything at all, just let the Father do everything. The results were amazing. If we can succeed in keeping this God-consciousness in us even most of the time, perhaps there would be no room for anything but love…no space for anger, unhealthy ego manifestations, the inability to forgive, or unhappiness.
Each of us is so unique that we have to develop practices that work for us. For a more complete list of possibilities, I would suggest Frank Laubach’s book, Practicing His Presence. In it he has combined Brother Laurence’s complete book with a description of his own attempts and failures in his development of this sense of the divine presence. You will find many more suggestions for beginning a new and deeper experience of the presence of God.
Finally, the following was written by Brother Laurence shortly before he died:
“In a little time I will go to God. What comforts me in this life is that I now see my Lord by faith. In seeing Him by faith I actually see so well I sometimes say, ‘I believe no more! I see!”
I can feel that which faith teaches; I can sense what faith sees. This of course, works great assurance in me. In that assurance, and in that practice of faith, I will live and die with Him.
Linda Buselli discovered The Urantia Book in 1971 and she and her husband Bob have been developing study groups wherever they have lived ever since. She has also been active in serving the revelation as Chair of the Publications Committee and a member of the Fellowship General Council and Executive Committee for the past 18 years.
| I, Brother - The Urantia Papers and Issues of Race | Volume 18, Number 1, 2018 (Summer) — Index | Akhenaten |