Augustine: coming to love Thee

Monday, August 28, 2017
    Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430
Meditation:
    But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food? Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?
    —Job 12:7-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Too late came I to love thee, O thou Beauty so ancient and so fresh, yea too late came I to love thee. And behold, thou wert within me, and I out of myself, where I made search for thee: I ugly rushed headlong upon those beautiful things thou hast made. Thou indeed wert with me; but I was not with thee: these beauties kept me far enough from thee: even those, which unless they were in thee, should not be at all.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions [397], Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1886, X.xxvii, p. 263 (see the book)
    See also Job 12:7-12; Zech. 12:10; Acts 9:3-6; Rom. 11:25-27; 1 Cor. 15:5-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, when You found me at last, I truly came home. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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