For God Alone III

Here are some more excerpts from For God Alone: The Life and Letters of a Saint, and the writings of Sri Gyanamata...

"To improve the circumstances of your life, to raise yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually, change your attitude. Meet trials with courage, determination, and fortitude. When you need help, meditate deeply and try to contact God, but look to no lower source than to Him...Pray and affirm:

'I will reason, I will will, I will act,
but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity
to the right thing that I should do.'"

"Late one afternoon...I was filled with apprehension. I knew that it was not the will of God that I should be saved from the experience. Even at that moment it was moving towards me. Suddenly God told me the prayer He would listen to, and I said quickly:

'Change no circumstance of my life.
Change me.'"

"The thing about the life of Brother Lawrence that has stood out in my memory ever since I read the book The Practice of the Presence of God, is the simplicity of his relationship with God. When he failed, when he did wrong, he said:

'That is the way I am;
that is the way I shall always be
unless you help me.'

This simple prayer, this simple attitude of mind, shows the truest humility. It says,

'I know well that I am nothing,
but let Your power flow into me
and I shall be saved.
I shall be all that You want me to be,
all that I long to be.'

Tears and groans of shame and agony will not do for the soul what this simple prayer will do."