Brother Lawrence and Love of Neighbor

Where do we see love of neighbor in Brother Lawrence's vision of the spiritual life? Brother Lawrence describes the spiritual life in terms of a "general loving awareness of God." Does such constant, loving awareness of God exclude awareness of neighbor? Is the neighbor simply an interruption or distraction to one's contemplation of God?

Here is my take on these important questions. I think Brother Lawrence simply assumes that if one is truly loving God, one will be loving neighbor. Love of God entails love of neighbor. If one lives with a "general loving awareness of God," one will have a general loving awareness of the neighbor. Brother Lawrence recognizes that if one is not attentive to the presence of God--a presence which, as Augustine put it, is closer to us than we are to ourselves--then one will not be attentive to the presence, let alone needs, of the neighbor. Cultivating a deeper attentiveness to God in all activities of life ought to result in a deeper attentiveness to one's neighbors in all activities of life. If it does not, then one must wonder if one is truly being attentive to God.

I think Brother Lawrence realized that love of neighbor must be rooted in practices of solitude and silence. Sometimes we must withdraw from community in order to maintain communion with God. It is in solitude, however, that one discovers once again the importance of community. Thomas Merton, a more modern spiritual writer, said it like this: "It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. The more solitary I am, the more affection I have for them…Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are..." (Thomas Merton, The Sign of Jonas (New York: Harcourt, 1953), 258.

Thus, the ongoing communion with God which Brother Lawrence recommends does not result in neglect others; rather, it results in deeper communion with others, a true engagement with the needs and burdens of one's neighbors.