We are just two books in to Augustine's Confessions and I already see the similarities this book shares with King David in Psalms. An open and honest dialogue for God and whoever else may be present to hear. This week, I want to put a focus on how vulnerable Augustine is about how he views his younger years as a wasted opportunity to live a truly meaningful life. He recounts tales from his youth involving stealing pears to chunk at pigs with, the circumstances that created an unhealthy environment for him to find spirituality in, and others in similar fashion. The common theme of living with a lack of focus, and therefore, a direction in life, caused Augustine to suffer for years before he learned the lessons that caused him to think about deeper things than the everyday motions we all go through. The summation of this point is reiterated by Augustine towards the end of Book I when he says:
"Therefore, the God who made me must be good and all the good in me is his. I think him and praise him for all the good in my life, even my life as a boy. But my sin was this, that I looked for pleasure, beauty, and truth not in him but in myself and his other creatures, and the search let me instead to pain, confusion, and error," (Augustine, 40).
Now not all the fault is his to bear, Augustine notes that the schooling/education system that he was forcefully raised in was seemingly built on the nature of hypocrisy (Page 31), and details the hypocrisy of the system (31) and the roman teachings that the system holds as gospel (33-34, 36). Augustine even goes so far as to wonder if he had not been taught about the tails of Aeneas (33-34), would he have taken his other, and more important, studies seriously. For what can someone do to distract themselves with stories if they are not taught how to do so? Regardless, recognizing that time is the most valuable resource that we have and then using it wisely is by far one of the greatest lessons that humanity could ever learn. I think we could all take a page out of Master Oogway's book going forward; "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why they call it the present."
p.s. I commented on Abigale's and Addison's posts.
Time is such a valuable gift that our finite brains can not even comprehend. We often forget about how important our time is since our time on earth is limited. As a Christian, I believe we should use our time efficiently by using it for the Kingdom and not for worldly gain.
ReplyDeleteI have caught myself being bored with life, and I often think, “I wish I could press the skip button.” I do not always try to think about how to live the best Jesus-centered life. With how finite our time on earth is compared to eternity with God, some would speculate that we would be giving our all every second, but I got lazy. I became unsatisfied with my predicaments without thinking of how God can use them for His works.
ReplyDeleteI agree so much Ian. Something that I have struggled with is I have become a Christian at a very young age before I really had the opportunity to sin so because of that when I fell into the arms of sexual immorality I was already a Christian and I knew it was wrong but I already felt stuck so I hid it. I think of all the time I spent hiding my own sin I could have spent preparing myself for what God had for me. It took the voice of God saying, "I can't use you with that in my way" to cause the change I necessarily need in my life. I am so grateful for that day and everything God has done and is doing to prepare me for his works.
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