Turning to the Mystics with James Finley

Bonus: Carmen Acevedo Butcher on Brother Lawrence

Oct 27, 2025
Carmen Acevedo Butcher, an award-winning translator and teacher, shares her journey of translating Brother Lawrence's 'Practice of the Presence.' She discusses how a pivotal conversation inspired her project and how she approaches translation as a spiritual practice. Carmen explains the challenges of conveying the ineffable mysticism in language and highlights Brother Lawrence's emphasis on finding God in ordinary tasks. The conversation explores themes of humility, trauma recovery, and the inclusivity of contemporary translations and their implications for understanding the divine.
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ANECDOTE

First Encounter As A Quickening

  • Carmen first found Brother Lawrence in translation during a hectic period of parenting and teaching, and his calm spoke to her need for rest.
  • That early encounter felt like a quickening that invited her into a lifelong spiritual affinity.
ANECDOTE

Translation Began With A Pandemic Tug

  • Carmen began translating Brother Lawrence in 2020 after a pandemic-era tug to explore his French texts on a Zoom call with an editor.
  • She typed and tested his phrases immediately to see if his spirit translated into English, and found it genuine.
INSIGHT

Translation As Spiritual Practice

  • Carmen treats translating as a spiritual practice, praying before work and adopting a midwife stance to let the author speak.
  • She couples devotional listening with rigorous historical research to inhabit the writer's period.
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