Brother Lawrence: Session 2

Turning to the Mystics with James Finley

Center for Action and Contemplation

Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is the second session which focuses on Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley reads passages from Carmen Acevedo Butcher's translation of Brother Lawrence's Practice of the Presence, reflects on core themes, and finishes with a meditative practice. Resources: Turning to the Mystics is a podcast by the Center for Action and Contemplation. To learn more about James Finley, visit his faculty profile ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. The book we will be using this season can be⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠found here⁠⁠⁠. The transcript for this podcast can be found here. Connect with us: Have a question you'd like Jim or Kirsten to answer about this season? Email us: ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠ Send us a voicemail: ⁠⁠⁠cac.org/voicemail⁠⁠⁠ We'll be accepting questions for our Listener Questions episode until November 7, 2025. This podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would love to support the ongoing work of the Center for Action and Contemplation and the continued work of our podcasts, you can donate at ⁠⁠⁠https://cac.org/support-cac/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠ Thank you!

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to a podcast by the Center for Action and Contemplation.
0:04.0	To learn more, visit cac.org.
0:09.6	Greetings. I'm Jim Finley.
0:13.2	Welcome to Turning to the Mystics.
0:28.6	Greetings, everyone, and welcome to our time together for the trustworthy guidance found in the practicing the presence by Brother Lawrence.
0:35.6	And in this session, we'll be turning to the section of practicing the presence of its collected letters.
0:44.4	And we'll be focusing on the 12th letter.
0:48.6	And the 12th letter is significant, I think, for two reasons.
0:53.0	One is, and as Carmen points this out in her commentary,
0:57.5	she points us out, it's written at the end of his life, he's dying. He knows that he's dying.
1:03.2	I think this is significant because, you know, with these mystic teachers, as they get to the end of
1:08.8	their life before the light dims and they cross over,
1:12.7	they become even more transparent or more luminous.
1:16.9	So, for example, when we were looking at Teresa Vavila of the interior castle, it was written
1:21.6	toward the end of her life.
1:23.8	And St. John of the Cross, these two Carmelites, discounted Carmelites in the order that Brother Lawrence belonged to.
1:30.3	As he goes through his writings of St. John of the Cross, in the living flame of love.
1:35.3	And so I think we have this feeling of effulgence or fullness here in this 12th letter of Brother Lawrence.
1:43.3	The second reason I think this is significant is that in this 12th letter of Brother Lawrence. The second reason I think this is significant
1:45.8	is that in this letter, he's writing to a nun, a prioress.
1:51.5	He is responding to her request
1:55.1	in which she's asking him to share,
	...

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