A Moment Aside ---- 4 July 2020

A Moment Aside --- 4 July 2020

     This Sunday, the opening prayer for the worship service includes these words: You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Personally, I have always liked these words.

     They are not my words or the word of some anonymous writer of prayers for the Church’s publishing house. They are not even the words of Scripture. They are the words of Augustine of Hippo (354-430AD), a Christian theologian and philosopher who was the bishop of the North African city of Hippo (in present day Algeria.) His path to faith was a winding one and we don’t need to go into that now. The statement quoted above is from his book “Confessions.” He’s considered a saint by a great many Christians.

    We know ourselves enough that we could all say we are restless and constantly seeking something. It might be success, fame, love, acceptance, money, or even peace. We are born with restless hearts that always want something more. For some people, enough is never enough. Augustine knew this, having learned it through some hard lessons of his own life. He knew the longing of humanity for… whatever. He also came to know the desire of God to have all of us in relation with God. He came to know that no matter what we may have done or endured, our hearts will remain restless until they find what they were created for. Many things may be sought, but none will satisfy unless they are satisfied in God.

     This does not rule out being happy with our relationships, our careers, our families, or many of the other things that make up our lives.  None of these are omitted. If they are part of our lives, they will be part of what God saves and blesses and possibly part of the quiet we will know in God.

     Just a few thoughts for today. I hope I’ll have you with me on Sunday at 11:00am for the Service of Word and Prayer carried on YouTube.

Fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te.

You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.