Adoring God in spirit and in truth

Spiritual Life, Winter 2000 by Giallanza, Joel

BROTHER LAWRENCE OF THE RESURRECTION wrote, "It is a typical error among the spiritually minded not to withdraw from what is external from time to time to adore God within themselves and enjoy his divine presence in peace for a few moments." This wise insight from chapter two of his Spiritual Maxims challenges us to avoid equating our efforts and exercises in the spiritual life with certain progress. Earlier in the same paragraph, Lawrence instructs us to

stop your activities and even your vocal prayers, at least from time to time, to adore him within, to praise him, to ask his help, to offer him your heart, and to thank him. (2:9)

This frequent, quiet, and interior adoration creates the environment for-and in fact is part of-practicing the presence of God, a practice that is fundamental to Br. Lawrence's spirituality.

Br. Lawrence bases this insight on Jesus' own words: "God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (Jn 4:24). These words express God's own preference, for as we learn from the preceding verse, "the Father seeks such as these to worship him" (Jn 4:23). How, then, do we worship God in spirit and in truth? How can we make this adoration a living prayer so that it permeates every dimension of our daily life?

In chapter three of the Spiritual Maxims, Br. Lawrence teaches us "how we must adore God in Spirit and in Truth." Specifically, he offers three points for our consideration. The following reflections will focus on the wisdom Lawrence passed on to us in that chapter. Appropriateness

"I say that adoring God in spirit and in truth means adoring God as we are supposed to adore him" (3:12). Again, Lawrence alludes to Jesus' words from the fourth chapter of Saint John's gospel. Lawrence elaborates by stating that "God is spirit and we must adore him in spirit and in truth, that is, with humble, authentic adoration of spirit in the depths and center of our souls" (ibid.). The first point Lawrence makes about adoration is its appropriateness, that is, it reflects what is worthy of the God who dwells within us.

Appropriate adoration is beyond description. It emerges from and expresses the deepest part of who and what we are as human beings. It reflects the principal truth of our nature, namely, that we are created in the image and likeness of God.2 There is within each of us a spark of divine nature, the very spirit which is God's own nature. Through and with the power of that spark and spirit, we pray and we adore. We are, in fact, most fully human in such prayer and adoration because we reveal our truest selves. However brief our initial experiences of such adoration, during those moments we touch and live what we are created to be: reflections and celebrations of the beauty and majesty of God.

This adoration need not be limited to a few scattered and rare moments. As Lawrence teaches us,

God alone can see this adoration, which we can repeat so often that in the end it will become second nature to us, as if God were one with our souls and our souls were one with God. (ibid.)

Two truths flow from Lawrence's teaching that adoration can become second nature.

First, adoration is ordinary and accessible to us.

It need not be categorized as extraordinary, reserved for special times and selected situations. It can remain with us throughout the day, touching all our activities, tasks, and responsibilities. Adoration becomes a living prayer. The ordinariness and accessibility of adoring God in spirit and in truth clearly echoes Brother Lawrence's understanding of practicing the presence of God. As he writes at the beginning of chapter two, `Me holiest, most ordinary,3 and most necessary practice of the spiritual life is that of the presence of God" (2:6). Adoration, like the practice of God's presence, is designed to be consistent with our everyday life.

Second, adoration is within our capacity as human beings.

Its ordinariness and accessibility confirm that it is within our reach, that it is natural to us. We are capable of adoring God in spirit and in truth precisely because that is the image and likeness in which we were created. Thus, the union with God to which Lawrence refers is not foreign to our nature. Quite the contrary, our nature and our capacity are fulfilled and perfected in that union for it brings us in contact with the very source of our being. Adoration can become second nature to us because it is consistent with our "first nature," our human nature.

None of this diminishes the wisdom of Brother Lawrence's closing comment regarding the appropriateness of adoration: "Practice will make this evident7 (3:12). Even though adoring God in spirit and in truth is ordinary, accessible, and within our capacity, it is not automatic. It must be practiced or we lose touch with that deepest part of ourselves which is destined for such adoration. We would become strangers to that spiritual and true part of ourselves which was created for union with God. Appropriate adoration is a discipline which requires a commitment of our time and energy. Gradually, our practiced fidelity to that discipline gives way to faithful preference, to second nature, so that our adoration and our union with God become a living prayer, a way of life.