Nicholas Herman was born in Lorraine, France.
Later, he assumed the name, Brother Lawrence, in Paris, in a Carmelite monastery.
His daily chores and mundane duties were done for God's sake as each task morphed into an opportunity for prayer, for connecting with the Creator.
He served briefly in the army and had little formal education.
One day while staring at a barren winter tree, he saw the Maker's providence, favor, blessings on people, and more. He morphed.
Today is his feast day on some calendars.
Brother Lawrence integrated spirituality and work, calling it the "practice of the presence of God."
On January 12, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi started a final, fruitful fast in New Delhi. It was an attempt to convince Muslims and Hindus there to aim for peace.
How refreshing in this culture of violence.
Gandhi reportedly read the sermon on the mount of Jesus most days. He believed that it was far more mighty than the empire that occupied his native India, and, the enmity that divided Muslims and Hindus.
Jesus fasted often in the wilderness as he prayed alone. Peace is borne of fasting and prayer. It is the lone recipe to rid the world of evil, it seems, along with all faith traditions in submission on our knees to rid these times of people's cruel inhumanity toward one another, and, especially against the least, and innocent among us.
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