Grace and Surrender

  Give to all who seek rest and refreshment in your shade
fruits to their liking regardless of your own,
and may each of your branches bear only marks of grace.
~ Jean Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment

February 19, 2019

Beloved:                                                                                                                               

The nuns to whom Father de Caussade wrote saved his letters and eventually published them in 1741, feeling sure they would be as much encouragement to others as they had been to them.  I for one am so grateful that they did!

Father de Caussade perceives God’s will as something everyday and common, toward which we merely need to turn ourselves in this present moment, trusting God is about God’s business and will use us as necessary, in ways we may or may not know.  In the few dozen pages of the book, he mostly says the same thing a dozen different ways so that everyone might catch it, but every chapter spoke to me.  I hear him say God’s business is just that, God’s, and we need not fret so much over our place in it.  He likes the word “surrender,” as in when we surrender our souls, that is the giving up of our own agenda to make room for what God brings to the moment.

Much of the book reads like prayer or poetry like the quote above.  I love the image of us as trees, standing quietly together, our branches bearing marks of grace, for those who rest within our shade.

I’ve chosen this little book as our Lenten devotional this year.  New and used copies are available for about $10 online at www.christianbook.com and amazon.com.  If you prefer to borrow a copy, let Pastor Annette know.  Book discussions will begin in late March.

I pray the day is gentle upon you, that you have a taste or glimpse of God’s goodness.

~peace & prayers,
pastor annette

PS - Three cheers for Greg T. for discovering that our Lenten devotional book, published also under the title Abandonment to Divine Providence, is available online for free in multiple formats.  Here is the link: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/decaussade/abandonment.html .