Monica- 10/10- Zane Duke

Hello Friends, 

I am currently sitting in Java stressing like nobody's business. 

I need some chocolate milk.

 (English Breakfast Tea is...well.... breakfast tea.) 

Nevertheless, I bring to you a blog post about our main dude Augustine's mom: Monica. 

You can kind of see in book IX why Augustine previously has talked so highly of his mom, who clearly had been an exemplary Christian for all of her life and was always fervently praying and pursuing even in the midst of longstanding trials (Augustine's journey to his faith). Even right as she is about to die, she says she doesn't care about what happens to her body, because she says that no place is far from God, who is her true home. There is some seriously deep stuff in Book IX, and a lot of it is from her. 

First of all, Monica must've been a fantastic wife. One interesting thing in Book IX Ch 19 was when Augustine said that the wives of "...gentler husbands bore the marks of blows and suffered disfigurement to their faces", and yet that even though her husband was believed to be a very violent guy, Monica never had a problem with him, which astounded the women around her. Monica simply obeyed her husband as the marital contract stated and served him well, and she achieved a successful and exemplary relationship through her diligent service to her husband. 

Second of all, she was a real prayer warrior. Monica had been praying that Augustine would come to God for at least over a decade of her life, and she had also been praying for her husband too to come around and accept Christ into his life. Both of them accepted Christ, and Augustine dropped his profession and began serving God. This shows how the faithful work of one person who was disciplined in her walk and her talk had her prayers answered in tenfold. 

Lastly, I want to include this one snippet about wisdom nearer to her death, when they have this super deep theological conversation that takes them to this other realm of worship through intimate conversation. 

"But wisdom itself is not brought into being but is as it was and always will be." 

This statement describes wisdom as neither past, present, or future, but eternal. That is the first time I had ever really thought about wisdom in that sort of way, and I am so glad to have read those words and written them down because they speak volumes of understanding for me. It sort of further explains the meaning of Philosophy, being the love of wisdom- Philosophy to me is now the love of the eternal, the ultimate. And if this is so, aren't all of us who love God technically Philosophers? I feel some sort of newfound purpose through it and I have a sense of jubilee and revelation about me through this realization. 

So to conclude, I need to say: We should all try to act like Augustine's mom. Like for reals, she had the whole Christian thing down pat. And if we all began to exemplify qualities that she possessed, how much greater of an impact could we bring to the world? I know I need to reflect on this stuff, and I challenge you all to do the same. 

Until next time, stay thristy ( for chocolate milk and to a lesser extent, English Breakfast Tea) my friends!