An "Aha" Moment with Augustine - Zelda Peach
Have you ever had a moment that you suddenly realized something, figured something out, or everything became clear? That is how I think Augustine felt through the storytelling of book nine. After finally becoming a Christian and fully realizing his faith, Augustine becomes so excited and awestruck at his newfound worldview and life. I felt happy while reading this book as he clearly expresses his pure joy found in converting and encouraging his friends to do so also. He goes into great detail about moments in realizing his faith and how he continued to grow deeper with Christ. He writes, "I trembled with fear and at the same time burned with hope and exultation at your mercy"(book 9, ch.9). He also writes about instead of just working for himself, how he now does things for the glory of God. He says, "The books that I wrote there were indeed now written in your service, and attest my discussions with those present and myself alone before you" (book 9, ch.7). I find that overall in book nine Augustine seems happy. In the previous books, he was in constant thought about the darkness that had been inside of him before finding God. Now, he seems much more joyful and full of life.
However, my favorite recognition of this inward happiness is as follows, "And I cried out loud when I acknowledged inwardly what I read in external words. I had no desire for earthly goods to be multiplied, nor to devour time and to be devoured by it. For in the simplicity of eternity I had another kind of 'corn and wine and oil' (Ps.4:9)" (book 9, ch.10). I love these three sentences. I think that they perfectly express the joy that Augustine feels towards his new belief and way of life. He no longer feels the constant pull towards sin and desire for the "earthly goods" that he once felt. In this small part of Agustine's writing, I personally relate very to the feeling of being "devoured" by one's own time. Time management can sometimes be very difficult for me and is something I struggle with. Especially in college, I find it key to be able to manage one's own time effectively- or you end up like I am right now writing this blog post at 10:11pm. I have not quite realized this feeling of no longer being devoured by time, as Augustine has, but I am working on it. I hope to one day perfect this skill and then, and only then, will I be able to beat Will Brady on writing our blog posts every week. Until then, I will continue to work towards being a better me, just as Augustine does in book nine.
P.S I commented on Cade and Josh's posts
However, my favorite recognition of this inward happiness is as follows, "And I cried out loud when I acknowledged inwardly what I read in external words. I had no desire for earthly goods to be multiplied, nor to devour time and to be devoured by it. For in the simplicity of eternity I had another kind of 'corn and wine and oil' (Ps.4:9)" (book 9, ch.10). I love these three sentences. I think that they perfectly express the joy that Augustine feels towards his new belief and way of life. He no longer feels the constant pull towards sin and desire for the "earthly goods" that he once felt. In this small part of Agustine's writing, I personally relate very to the feeling of being "devoured" by one's own time. Time management can sometimes be very difficult for me and is something I struggle with. Especially in college, I find it key to be able to manage one's own time effectively- or you end up like I am right now writing this blog post at 10:11pm. I have not quite realized this feeling of no longer being devoured by time, as Augustine has, but I am working on it. I hope to one day perfect this skill and then, and only then, will I be able to beat Will Brady on writing our blog posts every week. Until then, I will continue to work towards being a better me, just as Augustine does in book nine.
P.S I commented on Cade and Josh's posts
Some thoughts come across my mind when reading your post. The firs being that i remember several comedians saying that some christians have the most unhappy faces when sharing the gospel. Those people are like augustine when he began in christianity and overtime he learned what a gift of life the gospel is. My second thought was that while you may be swamped with responsibility and seemingly struggling with time management I am somehow better than you because i have my life all scheduled. Then i realized that was a horrible thing to think and that i am on the other end of the spectrum where i'm too focused on time and scheduling that i tend to push people away when they don't fit into my schedule. My third thought is that blog posts should not be a contest of any calibur. Blog posts are a way to share with the class your views about the reading in order to grow in wisdom together. Focus on quality, not speed. Just make it you otherwise its a waste of words.
ReplyDeleteYES! Augustine’s tone does shift around this time, and it continues to pick up when he is relieved from his tooth pain. Before he was somewhat distressed because of his inability to find God or wrap his head around reaction or existence. But around here he has a lightbulb moment then an encounter with what he’d always sought answers to. He realised that th truly good things that he wanted weren’t in the world that he lived in but they were in a world that he could not see. And before I realised he’d already quoted it he reminded me of 2 Cor 4:18 !
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