"God Walks Among The Pots And Pans"

The title is a quote from Teresa of Avila, Saint, Doctor of the Church and founder of the Discalced Carmelite Order. Teresa was devoted to contemplative prayer and yet she was fully aware that the time we spend working is as important as the time spent in contemplation of God. Our work, if done in a spirit of love can be as pleasing to God as our time in prayer. In fact, our work can be a prayer if dedicated to pleasing Him.



Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection OCD, a Carmelite Friar in the Discalced Carmelite Monastery in Paris stated it this way. In his writing on The Practice of The Presence of God he wrote; "The times of activity are not at all different from the hours of prayer,... for I possess God as peacefully in the commotion of my kitchen, where often enough several people are asking me for different things at the same time, as I do when knelling before the Blessed Sacrament.

Thoughts like these sustain me on those busy days in a hot kitchen when I find myself asking why am I here? I am here because God is here with me.