www.practicegodspresence.com
Is a fantastic site that has a printout of the book "Practicing the Presence of God" by an old monk by the name of Brother Lawrence.
I first found Brother Lawrence interesting because he was a wounded soldier who decided to devote his life to God by joining a monastery. His injuries during battle partially wrecked his sciatic nerve and he was somewhat feeble and slow in the going.
Brother Lawrence had an obscure life as a dishwasher and sandal repairer until after his death and the publicizing of a book about his peculiar way to spend time with God. The book is a series of letters and interviews about the man and how he communed with God.
The amazing thing about Brother Lawrence's approach to prayer is its simplicity. In a monastery you follow religious rites and practices that are meant to bring you closer to God and involve many hours of praying particular prayers and reading particular readings. However, Brother Lawrence experienced all life as prayer.
His approach, in so many words, was to keep a heart focused on his creator, every moment of every day. When your heart is in quiet worship all day long then you run out of options. Gossip, lying, lust all become distractions from what has surely grown to be your great romance.....spending time in His Presence. Brother Lawrence said "If I was a preacher I would preach one thing, the Presence of God..."
Odd. A man who's daily life was deprived of all our modern pleasures found his ultimate enjoyment in God, just being near. But isn't God always near? Yes, but we're not. As near as He may be, I could be 1,000 miles away.
What does this have to do with jail ministry? Whats the point? Well, when a man is incarcerated he runs out of distractions. He runs out of options, much like in a monastery. It is a lack of options, strangely enough, that quiets our minds and can bring our circumstances into focus. This is what drives some men crazy on the inside, a lack of distractions.
But when a man finds God inside of a jail or prison or foxhole, we decry it. We say, "It wont last" or, "They are just desperate." If I asked you to sit alone in silence for a week and focus on your life, you would see some things need changing. Its why we send kids to their rooms, to "think about what you have done" and trust they come out with a different outlook. Its why we cool off after an argument. We need quiet time to focus and reflect until our emotions and reactions subside.
Some mock jail house religion because, whether they will admit it or not, they don't think criminals can change. They don't think they deserve New Life. Who is more worthy of a new life, the man on his death bed or the man on death row? And before you answer, remember that Christ saw Barabbas set free just hours before His own death. Jail house/foxhole religion may seem like a fleeting last ditch effort by a desperate man, but frankly you and I are just as desperate. Were you some how going to stand in heaven without a Savior?
I submit to you that the man in the prison cell in your state penitentiary, or the man in the gun turret in Afghanistan, have a clearer picture of their need for a savior then those of us with eyes glued to our T.V., ears stuffed with iPod headphones, or noses buried in Time magazine. Jail house/ foxhole religion is a product of a man who is free of worldly distraction and realizes that he has great need. How dare us say it cant last when Christ Himself answered the dying criminal beside him on the cross with "this day, you shall be with Me in paradise...."
The first man to enter heaven because of what the blood of Christ had done for him was a dying criminal.....eyes focused on his Savior.
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