God asked him to do these things and gave him the power to do them, moment by moment.

Brother Lawrence (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All may of thee partake:

Nothing can be so mean,

Which with this tincture, For Thy Sake,

Will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause

Makes drudgery divine:

Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,

Makes that and the action fine.

This is the famous stone

That turneth all to gold:

For that which God doth touch and own

Cannot for less be told.

This is what Brother Lawrence knew: that every action he took was done for God, even if it 

was washing dishes or peeling vegetables.  Brother Lawrence did these things, not because he 

wanted to (or despite the fact that he didn’t want to), but because God asked him to do these 

things and gave him the power to do them, moment by moment.