I claim that I really don’t like reading, but the truth is that I really enjoy reading books on sports, leadership, and spiritual development. They just suck me in, and I usually highlight them all up.

Last summer I read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer and used some quotes from that book in my A word from… submission last summer. This summer, one of the books I am reading is called Practicing the Way, also by John Mark Comer. The book is about three main things: be with Jesus, become like Him; and do as He did. It has sure tugged on my heart and where I am in my walk with God. How in the year 2024, leading the lifestyles we live, are we going to be disciples or apprentices with God?

As a sports guy I really found this interesting. This doesn’t just happen naturally, but it takes practice in all areas of our life. This quote caught my eye and brought up some great questions to think about:

Turning God into a habit
“When you first come awake at the beginning of the day, where does your mind naturally go? When you lay your head on your pillow after a long, tiring day, what are your final thoughts as you drift off to sleep? In the little moments throughout your day — waiting in line for your morning coffee, stuck in traffic, sitting down to a meal — where does your mind fall ‘without thinking’ about it?”

~ Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer, page 41

You can fill in the blank to when it comes to your day. For me it could be when I am dealing with officials, where do my thoughts go? Or when I have a deadline to CHSAA where does my mind go? Even while reading this book, my mind is racing to what will I write in this post for A word from… I am not a very good writer, and I wonder why people would want to hear from me. So instead of practicing talking to Him in all things and practicing the presence of God, I am worrying about writing this. It really does take practice to set our mind on God and be in apprenticeship with Jesus.

“The monk who coined the phrase ‘the practice of presence of God’ wasn’t a priest; he was a dishwasher in a monastery in the seventeenth-century Paris. Brother Lawrence made it his life’s ambition to experience God in the chaos of the kitchen, with all its noise, distraction, and busyness. By the end of his life, he said,

‘The time of busyness does not differ from time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees before the Blessed Sacrament.’ Brother Lawrence, Practices of the Presence of God, page 6.

~ Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer, page 41

How do we get to the point where we are at the feet of God even while we are in total chaos and surrounded by distraction? How do we “practice the presence of God” no matter what is going on? Simply put, we need to practice, repeatedly. We need to let “turning to God” become habit in our lives. I pray this for my life, and I pray that this will be something our school is known for. Whether we are hosting an event; off campus; in the parking lot, talking; or in the stands — that we would be in the mind set of practicing the presence of God.