So we cooperate with Jesus in our own transformation by actively looking for opportunities to change our thinking and willfulness until they are in alignment with Jesus’ thinking and willfulness. Remember any afflictive emotion is telling us we have a wonderful opportunity to help Jesus transform us. We should sit down in prayer as soon as we can and begin to deconstruct the weed with Jesus. Start with the emotion(s) you are feeling, because emotions will be much more conscious to you than either your willfulness or your programmed thinking, both of which tend to be in the unconscious. Once you have named the emotion, move down to your willfulness and look with Jesus at what you wanted so much in the situation that caused the afflictive emotion. You will find an intense wanting or resisting of something. State this intense desire in words that both you and Jesus agree are accurate in this case. Then write the words by the stem of the weed. Then proceed down to the roots and look for the lie in your thinking. What were you thinking that led to such a strong desire! Again, put the thought into words that both you and Jesus agree are accurate in this case, and then write the words down next to the roots of the weed. The next and final step is to ask Jesus what he thinks is the truth in this situation; Jesus’ truth will show up your thinking to be the lie that it is. Jesus may let you know the truth right away, or he may not. If not, it will come in time, perhaps from a scripture reading, or perhaps from just thinking about what Jesus did when he or someone else was in a situation like yours. When the truth does come to you, write it down next to the roots of the flower, and try to believe the truth completely. Once you have complete faith in the truth, the corresponding lie will gradually fall away, and with it the attachment and emotional suffering it caused. You will have completed another step in your transformation into Christ.

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection on Spiritual Transformation

We just heard from the Carmelite monk St. John of the Cross. We now want to learn from another Carmelite monk, Brother Lawrence of the resurrection. Brother Lawrence, who lived in seventeenth France, developed a somewhat unique spirituality. The most unique part of it was his practice of continual conversation with God. He called this the “practice of the presence of God.” Brother Lawrence would talk to God about everything he was doing or thinking, no matter how small or unimportant it might seem. This constant conversing kept Brother Lawrence aware of God’s constant presence.

Brother Lawrence recommended two other practices to bring us into closer union with God. The first is to abandon ourselves completely to God. This is the faith, belief, trust and confidence in God and His words that we have talked about, and that is required if we are to really believe Jesus’ words and fully enter His world of truth. Brother Lawrence is adamant about this as his following words indicate.” ”We must trust God once and for all and abandon ourselves to Him alone,” “It is necessary to put our complete trust in God,” “ We should surrender ourselves in things temporal and in things spiritual, entirely and with complete abandonment to God,” we have a God of infinite goodness who knows what we need.” In other words, “Just Do It”! That is what “abandonment” means. Just trust God completely, and see what happens. What generally happens is that you will join Brother Lawrence in the world of the flower; and Brother Lawrence almost never worried about anything, his trust was so great.

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