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Letters of a Modern Day Mystic
This book recounts Frank Laubach's spiritual journey. Read about the remarkable results! Follow the principles he addressed and the practical guidelines he developed. What might you experience in the practice of such a spiritual discipline?
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1937
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1265 people want to read
About the author
Frank C. Laubach
137 books30 followersFrank Charles Laubach (September 2, 1884 – June 11, 1970), from Benton, PA was a Congregational Christian missionary educated at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, and a mystic known as "The Apostle to the Illiterates." In 1915 (see Laubach, Thirty Years With the Silent Billion), while working among Muslims at a remote location in the Philippines, he developed the "Each One Teach One" literacy program. It has been used to teach about 60 million people to read in their own language. He was deeply concerned about poverty, injustice and illiteracy, and considered them barriers to peace in the world.
In 1955, he founded Laubach Literacy, which helped introduce about 150,000 Americans to reading each year and had grown to embrace 34 developing countries. An estimated 2.7 million people worldwide were learning to read through Laubach-affiliated programs. In 2002, this group merged with Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. to form ProLiteracy Worldwide.
During the latter years of his life, Laubach traveled all over the world speaking on the topics of literacy and world peace. He was author of a number of devotional writings and works on literacy.
One of his most widely influential devotional works was a pamphlet entitled "The Game with Minutes." In it, Laubach urged Christians to attempt keeping God in mind for at least one second of every minute of the day. In this way Christians can attempt the attitude of constant prayer spoken of in the Epistle to the Colossians. The pamphlet extolled the virtues of a life lived with unceasing focus on God. Laubach's insight came from his experiments in prayer detailed in a collection of his letters published under the title, Letters by a Modern Mystic.
Laubach is the only American missionary to be honored on a US postage stamp, a 30¢ Great Americans series stamp in 1984.
Laubach had a deep interest in the Philippines. He wrote a biography of the Filipino national hero, Jose Rizal: Man and Martyr, published in Manila in 1936. He also translated the hero's valedictory poem, "Mi Ultimo Adios" (My Last Farewell.)
His emphasis on the use of Easy English for literacy led directly to the development by WEC International in 1962 of an evangelistic paper using his basic vocabulary called SOON, which now prints 3 million copies a year.
In 1955, he founded Laubach Literacy, which helped introduce about 150,000 Americans to reading each year and had grown to embrace 34 developing countries. An estimated 2.7 million people worldwide were learning to read through Laubach-affiliated programs. In 2002, this group merged with Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. to form ProLiteracy Worldwide.
During the latter years of his life, Laubach traveled all over the world speaking on the topics of literacy and world peace. He was author of a number of devotional writings and works on literacy.
One of his most widely influential devotional works was a pamphlet entitled "The Game with Minutes." In it, Laubach urged Christians to attempt keeping God in mind for at least one second of every minute of the day. In this way Christians can attempt the attitude of constant prayer spoken of in the Epistle to the Colossians. The pamphlet extolled the virtues of a life lived with unceasing focus on God. Laubach's insight came from his experiments in prayer detailed in a collection of his letters published under the title, Letters by a Modern Mystic.
Laubach is the only American missionary to be honored on a US postage stamp, a 30¢ Great Americans series stamp in 1984.
Laubach had a deep interest in the Philippines. He wrote a biography of the Filipino national hero, Jose Rizal: Man and Martyr, published in Manila in 1936. He also translated the hero's valedictory poem, "Mi Ultimo Adios" (My Last Farewell.)
His emphasis on the use of Easy English for literacy led directly to the development by WEC International in 1962 of an evangelistic paper using his basic vocabulary called SOON, which now prints 3 million copies a year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
March 21, 2013
For several years, I'd been searching for a copy of Frank Laubach's Letters by a Modern Mystic and The Game with Minutes. They were excepts of letters from a missionary who worked to stay present to God in his thoughts throughout each minute of the day. Sadly, they've been more or less out of print for quite a while, and used copies were rather costly. There's something rather ironic about that, given that Laubach was the "Apostle to the Illiterates"... Recently, however, a friend had discovered that they had been republished, and I quickly ordered one. In many ways, it is quite similar to Brother Lawrence's classic, Practicing the Presence of God, but Laubach is a bit more candid about his difficulties, a weakness to Lawrence's writings, and quite a bit more forceful and insistent in his presentation. Some people might find the task of playing "the game with minutes" in the long run a bit more difficult than he did, but who can argue with the idea behind it? It's a good read and an encouragement to see someone else wrestling with the task but finding some progress at the same time.
October 31, 2017
Forty-seven pages that pack a serious punch.
The gist of this book is Frank Laubach's attempt to make God a constant part of his every day life by thinking about him constantly while doing other things that might, otherwise, be mundane tasks.
Impossible, some might say, and Laubach did, indeed, find it challenging.
The beauty of these letter excerpts is his honesty in speaking of his failures in this challenge. But, then, when he did succeed, the results were extraordinary.
This little book comes at a perfect time in my life. I had just finished reading The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard (and Willard speaks of Laubach a number of times), and had already discovered the immediate presence of God in my life, everywhere I am, at all times. This has had a tremendous impact on my daily life.
When I remember to think about it.
So here comes Frank Laubach's letter excerpts, showing me the value of working to think about it more often. Every minute if I can manage. The very thought of thinking about God's presence every minute of every day is probably daunting to some people. Some would even object and say that you wouldn't get anything useful done at all. You might be "so heavenly minded that you'd be no earthly good," I've heard it said.
Laubach begs to differ. He believed that doing so would actually help one get more accomplished, and that one would be much happier in the process.
Forty-seven pages. I read it while waiting during my wife's knee-replacement surgery. I will read it again, you can be sure. And again, probably.
The gist of this book is Frank Laubach's attempt to make God a constant part of his every day life by thinking about him constantly while doing other things that might, otherwise, be mundane tasks.
Impossible, some might say, and Laubach did, indeed, find it challenging.
The beauty of these letter excerpts is his honesty in speaking of his failures in this challenge. But, then, when he did succeed, the results were extraordinary.
This little book comes at a perfect time in my life. I had just finished reading The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard (and Willard speaks of Laubach a number of times), and had already discovered the immediate presence of God in my life, everywhere I am, at all times. This has had a tremendous impact on my daily life.
When I remember to think about it.
So here comes Frank Laubach's letter excerpts, showing me the value of working to think about it more often. Every minute if I can manage. The very thought of thinking about God's presence every minute of every day is probably daunting to some people. Some would even object and say that you wouldn't get anything useful done at all. You might be "so heavenly minded that you'd be no earthly good," I've heard it said.
Laubach begs to differ. He believed that doing so would actually help one get more accomplished, and that one would be much happier in the process.
Forty-seven pages. I read it while waiting during my wife's knee-replacement surgery. I will read it again, you can be sure. And again, probably.
April 11, 2021
Short little book...series of letters...with a potentially life changing approach to living life. This guy runs an experiment where he tries to keep in constant contact with God.
He convinced me...I'm trying it.
He convinced me...I'm trying it.
September 5, 2023
I should read books like this one more often ("The Practice of the Presence" and the like) to remind me of the kind of life that is possible with Jesus. Laubach makes it simple and inspiring.
December 17, 2022
This book was incredible 👏 Dr. Laubach writes eloquently about his time as a missionary in the Philippines and what the Lord is teaching him - through beauty, through people, through hardship - about Jesus.
Following Letters, Dr Laubach’s “The Game with Minutes” was included at the end of the book. He gave great practical handlebars for how we can bring the Lord into our minute by minute thoughts through both of these.
I highly recommend this to anyone and would love to talk to anyone about it who has read it or wants to. Thank you to Andie Martin for sharing her copy of this book with me ❤️🤗
Also Good Reads is so awesome!! Keeping me accountable to finish my books rather than juggling them for months on end hahah
Following Letters, Dr Laubach’s “The Game with Minutes” was included at the end of the book. He gave great practical handlebars for how we can bring the Lord into our minute by minute thoughts through both of these.
I highly recommend this to anyone and would love to talk to anyone about it who has read it or wants to. Thank you to Andie Martin for sharing her copy of this book with me ❤️🤗
Also Good Reads is so awesome!! Keeping me accountable to finish my books rather than juggling them for months on end hahah
January 4, 2018
I just read it again in 2018. It is part of the Renovaré Institute, but I don't mind reading it again. It still is one of my favorite books, and this time, I was able to copy all the good quotes out of it in my academic journal for the Institute! I like my review below from 2014. I really think everyone should read this little gem (again and again)!
Review from 2014:
I have not read this book since 2009! I thought I had read it since then, but NO. I have read The Game with Minutes three times because it is part of our ministry curriculum, but this is one of my top ten favorite books that deserves a reread!
I have never written a review of it, other than having referred to it when I have reviewed other Laubach books, but I found a very old post from this blog entitled, "In His Presence" from July 30, 2009 that gets to the heart of why I love this book:
I do not know what is happening with me. There is this amazing connection that I am having with God right now.
My dream has always been to see a 24/7/365 kind of relationship with God (You - for I write this blog to You and for You). I remember reading The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence in the early 80's and felt like I had a new role-model. I specifically remember leaving Gill Coliseum on the OSU Campus one night, being tilted over by some strange encounter with Diane's guy friend, Chris. I cried out to You with the desire to not let strange encounters with others derail me from Your precious presence. It became my passion and something in which to strive because "In Your presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forever" (Psalm 16:11). Yet, being the emotional self that I am, it has always been difficult. Those bi-monthly extended times of prayer helped to recalibrate me, but by the end of the sixty days, I was undone again. Oh, to be undone only by God because of His overwhelming presence. That is what I yearned for more than anything.
Later in my journey, I read excerpts from Frank Laubach's (1884-1970) Letters by a Modern Mystic where he resolved: "I would succeed better this year with my experiment of filling every minute full of the thought of God than I succeeded last year. And I added another resolve -- to be as wide open toward people and their need as I am toward God. Window open outward as well as upward."
Somehow, Frank's effort seemed so realistic with little increments of growth year by year. He also did not live a monastic existence as Brother Lawrence did. His inward and outward growth were simultaneous. I wanted that moment by moment experience of God in the midst of the daily grind of life with "tilting people."
Then a couple of months later, in the fall of 2009, I read The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg and The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, and they BOTH quoted Laubach! I realized that I had only read a chapter with longer excerpts (referred to above) from Laubach called "Opening Windows to God" in the Devotional Classics by Foster and Smith. This was in the early 90's and back when it was a loose leaf notebook and only available through Renovaré!
Why had I never read him? If people like Willard and Ortberg and Foster (and countless others) were quoting him, why have I never read him directly? So I Googled and found this book. Part of the reason I had never read him in the 90's was that this book was out of print, and there were not opportunities on the internet to search out copies of it. Thankfully, by 2009, this 2007 edition had been made available, and I ate it up! I never knew that he was a worker among the Moro people in Southeast Asia too! My kind of guy!
The Introduction by Ken Smitherman, President of the Association of Christian Schools International puts it well, when he says that, "Although these letters were written nearly eighty years ago they speak forcefully to anyone who desires the highest level of the pursuit of God and effective discipleship and discipling." I recommend it to all the women I disciple. It is that important of a book, and paired with The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, it is that much more powerful!
There is an online version, but I really like this little pocket book that includes The Game with Minutes too.
Review from 2014:
I have not read this book since 2009! I thought I had read it since then, but NO. I have read The Game with Minutes three times because it is part of our ministry curriculum, but this is one of my top ten favorite books that deserves a reread!
I have never written a review of it, other than having referred to it when I have reviewed other Laubach books, but I found a very old post from this blog entitled, "In His Presence" from July 30, 2009 that gets to the heart of why I love this book:
I do not know what is happening with me. There is this amazing connection that I am having with God right now.
My dream has always been to see a 24/7/365 kind of relationship with God (You - for I write this blog to You and for You). I remember reading The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence in the early 80's and felt like I had a new role-model. I specifically remember leaving Gill Coliseum on the OSU Campus one night, being tilted over by some strange encounter with Diane's guy friend, Chris. I cried out to You with the desire to not let strange encounters with others derail me from Your precious presence. It became my passion and something in which to strive because "In Your presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forever" (Psalm 16:11). Yet, being the emotional self that I am, it has always been difficult. Those bi-monthly extended times of prayer helped to recalibrate me, but by the end of the sixty days, I was undone again. Oh, to be undone only by God because of His overwhelming presence. That is what I yearned for more than anything.
Later in my journey, I read excerpts from Frank Laubach's (1884-1970) Letters by a Modern Mystic where he resolved: "I would succeed better this year with my experiment of filling every minute full of the thought of God than I succeeded last year. And I added another resolve -- to be as wide open toward people and their need as I am toward God. Window open outward as well as upward."
Somehow, Frank's effort seemed so realistic with little increments of growth year by year. He also did not live a monastic existence as Brother Lawrence did. His inward and outward growth were simultaneous. I wanted that moment by moment experience of God in the midst of the daily grind of life with "tilting people."
Then a couple of months later, in the fall of 2009, I read The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg and The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, and they BOTH quoted Laubach! I realized that I had only read a chapter with longer excerpts (referred to above) from Laubach called "Opening Windows to God" in the Devotional Classics by Foster and Smith. This was in the early 90's and back when it was a loose leaf notebook and only available through Renovaré!
Why had I never read him? If people like Willard and Ortberg and Foster (and countless others) were quoting him, why have I never read him directly? So I Googled and found this book. Part of the reason I had never read him in the 90's was that this book was out of print, and there were not opportunities on the internet to search out copies of it. Thankfully, by 2009, this 2007 edition had been made available, and I ate it up! I never knew that he was a worker among the Moro people in Southeast Asia too! My kind of guy!
The Introduction by Ken Smitherman, President of the Association of Christian Schools International puts it well, when he says that, "Although these letters were written nearly eighty years ago they speak forcefully to anyone who desires the highest level of the pursuit of God and effective discipleship and discipling." I recommend it to all the women I disciple. It is that important of a book, and paired with The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, it is that much more powerful!
There is an online version, but I really like this little pocket book that includes The Game with Minutes too.
August 26, 2018
I was skeptical going in when I ordered this book upon the recommendation of a friend. I was pleasantly surprised at Laubach's equanimity when it came to Islam v. Christianity. For example:
"A good Muslim would fill his life with God. I fear there are few good Muslims. But so would a real Christlike Christian speak to God every time he did anything--and I fear there are few good Christians. What right then have I or any other person to come here and change the name of these people from Muslim to Christian, unless I lead them to a life fuller of God than they have now? Clearly...my job here is not to go to the town plaza and make proselytes, it is to live wrapped in God, trembling to His thoughts..." (13)
I liked this idea of the reflective missionary--one who is as much on a mission for himself as looking to spread the Gospel. I used the book for my Lenten meditations and it worked very well for that. As for the "Game with Minutes," at the end? I didn't like it. I found the metaphor sort of silly and glib and it was a rather bizarre shift of tone from the letters, which are filled with the real anguished questioning and blissful moments of a true spiritual sojourn.
"A good Muslim would fill his life with God. I fear there are few good Muslims. But so would a real Christlike Christian speak to God every time he did anything--and I fear there are few good Christians. What right then have I or any other person to come here and change the name of these people from Muslim to Christian, unless I lead them to a life fuller of God than they have now? Clearly...my job here is not to go to the town plaza and make proselytes, it is to live wrapped in God, trembling to His thoughts..." (13)
I liked this idea of the reflective missionary--one who is as much on a mission for himself as looking to spread the Gospel. I used the book for my Lenten meditations and it worked very well for that. As for the "Game with Minutes," at the end? I didn't like it. I found the metaphor sort of silly and glib and it was a rather bizarre shift of tone from the letters, which are filled with the real anguished questioning and blissful moments of a true spiritual sojourn.
January 18, 2020
2.5 for being a slightly interesting story of a man who sought to enjoy God with every moment, and somehow completely boring.
December 30, 2021
I picked up "Letters by a Modern Mystic" by Frank Laubach because Dallas Willard cites Laubach is a significant influence on his spiritual journey.
"Letters by a Modern Mystic" is a book I wouldn't naturally be drawn to. I'm not typically a fan of collections of letters as they tend to meander and lack depth and coherence of thought. Laubach's book has the additional challenge of being written nearly a hundred years ago in the Philippines. And yet, the book has moments of incredible poignancy and power I won't quickly forget.
Laubach began his series of letters as a single missionary in his mid-forties. The letters were prompted by Laubach's journey to align his thoughts with God's every minute of the day. He longs to not have a moment of the day not spent thinking upon God himself. Despite his intentions, Laubach struggles to accomplish this goal. And yet he knows its profound worth.
Laubach says, "Money, praise, poverty, opposition, these make no difference for they will all alike be forgotten in a thousand years, but this spirit which comes to a mind set upon continuous surrender, this spirit is timeless life."
Referencing his relationship with his dog, Laubach considers, "I know as little about God as you know about me, perhaps ten thousand times less. And perhaps you are wiser than I, for you are contended to be patted on the head and to hunt for fleas, while I am impatient to break loose into the universe."
Later, Laubach considers just how important our relationship with God is. He says, "There is no defeat unless one loses God, and then all is defeat, though it be housed in castles and buried in fortunes."
Laubach longs to be "God-intoxicated." He says that the most important doorways to behold God is through beauty and the cross. Two doorways that ultimately are one. "We cannot believe in a good God unless we have Easter," Laubach reflects.
While many point to the final section of "Letters by a Modern Mystic" as most helpful: where Laubach lays out practices for moment-by-moment considering Christ, I actually found it the weakest part of the book. It is fine as far as it goes, but I was much more moved by Laubach's own journey and reflections on the person of Christ and the journey of knowing him deeper daily.
As one might suspect, the other flaw in Laubach's "Letters" is that there is a bit of sloppy theology here and there. For instance, "God needs my help to do His will for others..." and his general emphasis on the individual's responsibility to practice the presence of God (as opposed to God's pursuit of us).
Regardless, I encourage you to read and be encouraged by Laubach's important reflections on experiencing the presence of God.
For more reviews see thebeehive.live.
"Letters by a Modern Mystic" is a book I wouldn't naturally be drawn to. I'm not typically a fan of collections of letters as they tend to meander and lack depth and coherence of thought. Laubach's book has the additional challenge of being written nearly a hundred years ago in the Philippines. And yet, the book has moments of incredible poignancy and power I won't quickly forget.
Laubach began his series of letters as a single missionary in his mid-forties. The letters were prompted by Laubach's journey to align his thoughts with God's every minute of the day. He longs to not have a moment of the day not spent thinking upon God himself. Despite his intentions, Laubach struggles to accomplish this goal. And yet he knows its profound worth.
Laubach says, "Money, praise, poverty, opposition, these make no difference for they will all alike be forgotten in a thousand years, but this spirit which comes to a mind set upon continuous surrender, this spirit is timeless life."
Referencing his relationship with his dog, Laubach considers, "I know as little about God as you know about me, perhaps ten thousand times less. And perhaps you are wiser than I, for you are contended to be patted on the head and to hunt for fleas, while I am impatient to break loose into the universe."
Later, Laubach considers just how important our relationship with God is. He says, "There is no defeat unless one loses God, and then all is defeat, though it be housed in castles and buried in fortunes."
Laubach longs to be "God-intoxicated." He says that the most important doorways to behold God is through beauty and the cross. Two doorways that ultimately are one. "We cannot believe in a good God unless we have Easter," Laubach reflects.
While many point to the final section of "Letters by a Modern Mystic" as most helpful: where Laubach lays out practices for moment-by-moment considering Christ, I actually found it the weakest part of the book. It is fine as far as it goes, but I was much more moved by Laubach's own journey and reflections on the person of Christ and the journey of knowing him deeper daily.
As one might suspect, the other flaw in Laubach's "Letters" is that there is a bit of sloppy theology here and there. For instance, "God needs my help to do His will for others..." and his general emphasis on the individual's responsibility to practice the presence of God (as opposed to God's pursuit of us).
Regardless, I encourage you to read and be encouraged by Laubach's important reflections on experiencing the presence of God.
For more reviews see thebeehive.live.
April 22, 2023
I enjoyed reading this book of Letters by Mr. Laubach. It's amazing how the simple things in life that God has created can keep us connected to Him. Like flowers, the sky, people, etc. I also enjoyed the test, connecting to God moment by moment each and every day. It is challenging and seems impossible to do. But it gets easier to do with habit, when we continue trusting, believing, and seeking God. Staying focused on God puts us in another mind set. We stop worrying about nothing, creating doubt and we are able to think good things and allow ourselves to hear God speak to us. God has a plan for us all. If we can't hear from God, how will we know the plan He has for us (Jer. 29:11). I will be reading this book over many times. I thank God for this blessing and I receive it. In Jesus name, amen.
February 13, 2025
Some questionable things which was expected, but also some good nuggets.
The author essentially tries to think about God constantly for a year and writes about his experience. He wanted to learn to pray continually, always be mindful of God and to be surrendered to the will of God every second of every day.
Although it was hard, he found a lot of peace when he was able to fixate his mind on God, which makes me think of Isaiah 26:3.
He learned these revelations were meant to be shared with others because "what one gives one has, what one keeps to oneself one loses".
Also talked about how he learned to find deep peace in times of loneliness and failure. God is a plowman who must break soil for the seeds to grow.
"God, how can we reconcile this need of pain with our effort to abolish all misery?"
The author essentially tries to think about God constantly for a year and writes about his experience. He wanted to learn to pray continually, always be mindful of God and to be surrendered to the will of God every second of every day.
Although it was hard, he found a lot of peace when he was able to fixate his mind on God, which makes me think of Isaiah 26:3.
He learned these revelations were meant to be shared with others because "what one gives one has, what one keeps to oneself one loses".
Also talked about how he learned to find deep peace in times of loneliness and failure. God is a plowman who must break soil for the seeds to grow.
"God, how can we reconcile this need of pain with our effort to abolish all misery?"
January 28, 2023
Quick and easy read - a collection of letters and writings from missionary Frank Laubach as he reflects on his experiment, struggles, and revelations by attempting to be aware of God at least once every minute.
This book reads like the 20th century version of Brother Lawrence’s Practice of the Presence of God. Very similar in terms of the emotions of successes/failures as well as the invitation for the reader to take part in the practice.
This book reads like the 20th century version of Brother Lawrence’s Practice of the Presence of God. Very similar in terms of the emotions of successes/failures as well as the invitation for the reader to take part in the practice.
March 14, 2021
A really enjoyable book about the authors pursuit of keeping God in His mind at all times. A great testimony with some practical insights. This is mainly a book about his experiences and might have been even better if he showed how we can use scripture meditation and other spiritual disciplines to transform our lives. Definitely inspires one to go seek God!
September 11, 2022
This is a book that I really liked. The target audience is very small such that I would only recommend it to a few. Laubach’s book is essentially a diary about his experiments in learning to experience the presence of God in his life. For those like me who think this pursuit is valuable and important, the book is highly recommended.
December 27, 2024
I read Letters by a Modern Mystic soon after re-reading Willard’s Divine Conspiracy and Foster’s Celebration of Discipline which mention this book (book is #2 in Disciplines appendix “starter kit” 12 book reading list -40th Anniversary Edition).
I am moving from occasionally feeling God’s presence to always being present for Him… Laubach is both inspiring and practical- I will want to especially “…develop what Thomas à Kempis calls a “familiar friendship with Jesus.””
I will want to revisit the list of 17 practices at end of the book.
I am moving from occasionally feeling God’s presence to always being present for Him… Laubach is both inspiring and practical- I will want to especially “…develop what Thomas à Kempis calls a “familiar friendship with Jesus.””
I will want to revisit the list of 17 practices at end of the book.
March 16, 2021
It is as exciting as breathing the ozone of a mountain summit and makes the reader long to rise on the wings of the spirit as the author has done.
October 17, 2022
Hey mom look! I’m a mystic!
September 15, 2025
go read this immediately!
March 26, 2019
Short yet profoundly challenging. This was written nearly a century ago yet still exceptionally relevant today.
June 7, 2023
Genuinely life changing, something I’ve recommended to like 10 people already.
July 22, 2022
The name Laubach has been emerging ever more frequently in my readings, being referenced by more and more authors, pastors, and podcasters I've been listening to, so I decided I needed to investigate the man's writings directly. I am so glad I did, because this was one of the most engaging and challenging books on applied faith that I've read in a long time, and it raised the bar of the potential of the Christian experience for me.
When I was in high school, I remember hearing an older missionary talk about Paul's exhortation to "pray without ceasing", stating that he could not possibly have meant that literally. That seemed defeatist to me at the time, and more an excuse than an honest appraisal. Yet I had no example of a person to point to who had made a serious effort of obeying that command, and so I considered it silently. And that is one of our greatest hurdles in Christianity--we model our faith after those we look up to, ("join in imitating me as I imitate Christ"), and so our image of the Christian life is largely defined by the "best" Christians we know. This is a precarious system, because we often fail in our imitation, thereby passing our failings on to those who subsequently imitate us. In this way, especially in the areas of the Christian life which require considerable effort and discipline, the "bar" has a tendency toward a downward trend through generations (this is not a universal rule but consider why there has ever been a need for even a single revival). This tends not to affect theology, because theology as we understand it is easily recorded and immortalized. For some reason, though, when we read records of Christians living lives radically different from ours we come up with all kinds of excuses to dismiss why we ourselves are not seeing similar things in our own lives. "That was then and this is now", or "this must be fabricated", or "that had entirely to do with the situation, and not the mettle of the Christian". It is far easier to dismiss such things than it is to confront why our own experience does not match up. Cessationism is a prime example of such excuses that have snuck their way into theology, where they become even more intractable.
These excuses tend to lose their strength the closer in proximity one gets to one of these Christians, be they a martyr or a missionary or a particularly passionate Christian living and experiencing "abundant life", such that a testimony from 50 years ago by someone from your own country carries a lot more force than one from 500 years ago by someone from the other side of the globe. Laubach provides such a testimony, and confronted me with a vision of a life lived with God that is causing me to rethink how I approach spiritual growth. How? Read the book. It's really short, I promise :)
When I was in high school, I remember hearing an older missionary talk about Paul's exhortation to "pray without ceasing", stating that he could not possibly have meant that literally. That seemed defeatist to me at the time, and more an excuse than an honest appraisal. Yet I had no example of a person to point to who had made a serious effort of obeying that command, and so I considered it silently. And that is one of our greatest hurdles in Christianity--we model our faith after those we look up to, ("join in imitating me as I imitate Christ"), and so our image of the Christian life is largely defined by the "best" Christians we know. This is a precarious system, because we often fail in our imitation, thereby passing our failings on to those who subsequently imitate us. In this way, especially in the areas of the Christian life which require considerable effort and discipline, the "bar" has a tendency toward a downward trend through generations (this is not a universal rule but consider why there has ever been a need for even a single revival). This tends not to affect theology, because theology as we understand it is easily recorded and immortalized. For some reason, though, when we read records of Christians living lives radically different from ours we come up with all kinds of excuses to dismiss why we ourselves are not seeing similar things in our own lives. "That was then and this is now", or "this must be fabricated", or "that had entirely to do with the situation, and not the mettle of the Christian". It is far easier to dismiss such things than it is to confront why our own experience does not match up. Cessationism is a prime example of such excuses that have snuck their way into theology, where they become even more intractable.
These excuses tend to lose their strength the closer in proximity one gets to one of these Christians, be they a martyr or a missionary or a particularly passionate Christian living and experiencing "abundant life", such that a testimony from 50 years ago by someone from your own country carries a lot more force than one from 500 years ago by someone from the other side of the globe. Laubach provides such a testimony, and confronted me with a vision of a life lived with God that is causing me to rethink how I approach spiritual growth. How? Read the book. It's really short, I promise :)
March 2, 2022
So Wonderful!
This book was beautiful and wonderful and enlightening. The author was very much a teacher as he had the best way of explaining practicing the presence of God that I have ever read. I read though it all in one day, and will start it over for deeper study immediately!
This book was beautiful and wonderful and enlightening. The author was very much a teacher as he had the best way of explaining practicing the presence of God that I have ever read. I read though it all in one day, and will start it over for deeper study immediately!
February 10, 2016
Laubach underwent the experiment of putting God before his mind every moment. He is 1 of 3 who has written about doing this. This little book is outstanding, and I hope I could do this experiment too. I read it as a devotional, as I think one would get more out of it by relflecting on his letter for that day. One particular line spoke to me, " you must awaken hunger there, for until they hunger they cannot be fed." I enjoyed the last letter where Laubach states not everyone can be brilliant, beautiful, enjoy music, or dream dreams. I love that he mentions this as people are striving today for all these things.
January 24, 2019
Love his honesty, his struggle to hold God in his mind, and his love & respect for the Muslim people.
‘I choose to stop following the current, to stop posing as the judge of the universe. I choose to look at people through God, using God as my glasses, clothed with His love for them.’
‘My job is to live wrapped in God; what right have I or any other person to come here and change the name of these people from Muslim to Christian, unless I lead them to a life fuller of God than they have now?’
‘I choose to stop following the current, to stop posing as the judge of the universe. I choose to look at people through God, using God as my glasses, clothed with His love for them.’
‘My job is to live wrapped in God; what right have I or any other person to come here and change the name of these people from Muslim to Christian, unless I lead them to a life fuller of God than they have now?’
July 12, 2015
Loved this man's passion to know God; only the Holy Spirit could move a man to undertake the challenge to know God in every moment of life. A must read for people seeking to live in the Kingdom. Here is encouragement.
March 17, 2010
There's a few things that I think are questionable about his view of God, but overall I think it's a very challenging and encouraging book that everyone who is firm minded should read. :)
July 24, 2012
This reminds me to keep talking to God about my life, my emotions, my thoughts, and people I encounter.
Currently reading
August 18, 2025This is a must read for anyone desiring a deeper relationship with God.
May 9, 2016
No matter how often I read this little book, I am always challenged and inspired. A classic.
November 20, 2020
Some time ago, I read an anthology of devotional texts compiled by Richard Foster, making a mark beside each piece that caught my imagination, then searching out and slowly collecting books by these authors. Letters by a Modern Mystic is such a one.
Frank Laubach (1884-1970) was an American Congregationalist educated at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, who went to the Philippines as a missionary. In the 1930s he found himself deeply lonely.
So, he decided to integrate a minute by minute awareness of God into his everyday life (a la Brother Lawrence), leading to a kind of vibrant and love-filled awakening. That story is told in this book via excerpts from a series of letters he wrote to his father as the journey unfolded.
The impact on his internal life is remarkable, but from an external perspective (and this is a historical outcome beyond the scope of the letters in the book), what sprung from that space was a burst of insight and creativity that led to Laubach developing a literacy programme which is credited with equipping over one hundred million people with the ability to read. (In fact, the US Postal Service issued a stamp in 1984 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Laubach's birth.)
Lovely stuff with, it appears, high potentiality.
Frank Laubach (1884-1970) was an American Congregationalist educated at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, who went to the Philippines as a missionary. In the 1930s he found himself deeply lonely.
So, he decided to integrate a minute by minute awareness of God into his everyday life (a la Brother Lawrence), leading to a kind of vibrant and love-filled awakening. That story is told in this book via excerpts from a series of letters he wrote to his father as the journey unfolded.
The impact on his internal life is remarkable, but from an external perspective (and this is a historical outcome beyond the scope of the letters in the book), what sprung from that space was a burst of insight and creativity that led to Laubach developing a literacy programme which is credited with equipping over one hundred million people with the ability to read. (In fact, the US Postal Service issued a stamp in 1984 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Laubach's birth.)
Lovely stuff with, it appears, high potentiality.
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