Frank Laubach

Dear Gary,

You recently persuaded me as a friend (and your friendship is now in question), that I would find  Letters by a Modern Mystic both beneficial and growth-inducing. I say your friendship is in question because in my naiveté I assumed you meant I would find it a good read, not realizing you expected me to take the Letters to heart and use them as a guide to greater spiritual maturity. 

As you mentioned, the Letters were written by Frank Laubach during his missionary service in the Philippines during the 1930’s.  At the outset (January 3) he states his goal thus: “As for me I resolved that I would succeed better this year with my experiment of filling every minute full of the thought of God than I succeeded last year.” 

I can identify with his goal to the extent this has often been my desire as well, but it has always ended as a fantasy rather than an experiment. One of the challenges I face daily is my inclination to grandiose thinking. In the past I’ve decided that instead of studying a few Bible verses I’ll study all of them. I’ve set my sights not on working out once a week for a month, but every day for a year. I won’t construct a workbench, I’ll organize a whole shop and build cabinets for it. None of these have come to pass.  And I have determined in the past to fill all my waking moments with the presence of God. This one is still up for debate.

On some occasions I’ve found what I assumed to be God’s thoughts, or voice, speaking to me sotto voco, particularly in times of prayer. I have even considered that it was God’s words that found their way onto a sermon manuscript; after a time of study I would begin writing, struggling at first, but then feeling the words flow effortlessly onto the page I was typing. In retrospect I have most often attributed this to being focused on the sermon to the exclusion of any distractions, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe it really was God speaking. In addition there have been times when I determined to focus continually on God and God’s presence. My decision to do so would come on the heels of what I’d believed to be an internal dialogue with God, but I would quickly set my resolve aside. I have always been easily distracted from movies, sermons, and God, and thus irregular in prayer. It’s just hard for me to focus.

Laubach further defines his purpose: ”But this year I have started out trying to live all my waking moments in conscious listening to the inner voice, asking without ceasing, “What, Father, do you desire said? What, Father, do you desire done this minute?” It is clear that this is exactly what Jesus was doing all day every day. But it is not what His followers have been doing in very large numbers.” 

If I were going to undertake this exercise I thought it would be wise not to do so alone. My choice for a companion was Devotional Classics edited by Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith. They provide writings by about 50 individuals we would count as people of faith. I read this book thoroughly about 15 years ago and taught a Sunday School class using some of the chapters.

It intrigues me now that the first excerpts come from C.S. Lewis, who seems to be singing from the same songbook as Laubach: 

The real problem of the Christian life comes … the very moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving  them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading through our system,  because now we are letting Him work at the right part of us. 

I’ve never been troubled by the wild animals Lewis talks about. My animals are still asleep when I wake up, and it’s an accomplishment to get a list of the day’s responsibilities together. Nevertheless it takes all of my concentration to focus on what God might be saying. And I can only keep it up for a few minutes, let alone all day. This could be a long battle.

- Pastor Mike