Little Things

In The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence offers one of the simplest descriptions of the spiritual life: “Thoughts count for little, love does everything.” He does not illustrate this with some heroic act of sacrifice. He tells us about making an omelet. He turns it in the pan for the love of God. When his work is finished, he adores the God who gave him the grace to do it. And if nothing greater presents itself, he is content to lift a straw from the ground for love of Him.

There is something deeply Carmelite in this. Carmel teaches us to seek God not somewhere beyond the circumstances of our ordinary lives, but within them. The kitchen can become a chapel. The workbench can become an altar. A quiet moment between responsibilities can become prayer. The important question is not whether what I am doing seems spiritually significant, but whether I am doing it with God and for God.

Brother Lawrence's little omelet makes me think immediately of St. Thérèse and her Little Way. Thérèse understood that she might never have the opportunity to perform great deeds for Christ, but she could make every small deed great through love. A smile when we would rather remain silent, a chore done without complaint, an interruption received patiently, a small kindness no one notices—these become precious when offered to God. Love transforms the ordinary.

Perhaps this is also what it means to practice the presence of God: not continually thinking about God, but gradually learning to live everything in His presence. I do not have to escape my ordinary life to find Him. He is already here—in the kitchen, at my desk, in the person standing before me, and even in the smallest task I would rather not do. The invitation is simply to turn toward Him and say: Jesus, I do this for love of You.

And perhaps today holiness really can be that small. Turn the omelet. Pick up the straw. Answer the email. Wash the cup. Love the person in front of you. Do the next little thing with great love—and remain with God there.