Written by Fr. Lev Gillet, also known as “A Monk of the Eastern Church,” In Thy Presence is a book of short spiritual reflections on the presence of Christ. As in the case of the quotation below, these reflections are sometimes imagined as words spoken from our Lord to the believer.
“My child, I want thee to feel thyself in communion with the greatness of my universe, with its unformed aspiration, with its unformed thanksgiving. But above all, in those moments when thou seekest to become one with limitless Love, I want thee to be very humble.
Thou hast seen the morning dew. It forms trembling pearls on the blades of grass and on the leaves, before or shortly after the rising of the sun.
Dew is abundant where the earth is humid and exposed, when the weather is fine and perfectly calm.
Each small iridescent drop mirrors the colours of the rainbow. No matter how minute, it reflects the basic colours of the universe.
My child, be thou this infinitesimal drop of dew coming to life on the humid earth of tenderness, as the sun rises in a loving heart.
Be this drop which for all its smallness, in its whole extent, reflects the beauty of the world.
And then be re-absorbed thyself into the light and heat of the sun. Because it is the sun that gives the dewdrops their being.”
Excerpt from In Thy Presence by Lev Gillet, St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1977, p. 30.
