The Practice of the Presence of God. Conversations and Letters of Brother Lawrence

Caspar David Friedrich, Monk by the Sea, c1809

Why do we need to “practice the presence of God” when we know that God is with us at all times?

The answer to that question lies at the heart of four conversations with and fifteen letters by Brother Lawrence, a lay brother of the Discalced Carmelite Order who lived in France in the seventeenth century and were published posthumously, becoming a spiritual classic.

Start:Stop - It’s all in the cloud

Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus Sankt Peter, 2013

Hello, my name is Phillip Dawson and it is a great pleasure to welcome you to our Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, when we stop for a few minutes and start to reflect on a passage from scripture. You can hear an audio recording of this reflection at this link.

This week, a great prayer from the Letter to the Ephesians, that we might be strengthened by the fullness of God’s love for us - a love that surpasses knowledge.

Start:Stop-Start your day the Salesian way

The Sun, Edvard Munch, 1910-1911

Good morning and welcome to Start Stop. This time of year is one of new beginnings for many - back to school or university, or back to work after the holidays. For some this is an exciting time, but for others it can be daunting. It is all to easy to become distracted from the present moment and spend time worrying about the future - to wince at the number of unopened emails or feel anxious about the size of our seemingly never-shrinking to-do lists - and Christmas is only around the corner! How! are we going to fit it all in? How! will we cope?