to the soul

the name Augustine of Hippo, caught my attention. ʕ•͡-•ʔ then i found him asking many of the same questions I’ve been asking. Augustine spent years discovering that his own heart was restless and disordered before resting in God.

I’ve spent a lot of time strengthening my inner life, searching for wholeness, questioning success, purpose, and what it truly means to be a Christian. Somewhere along the way, I realised how easily a life can be pulled in different directions by ambition, achievement, recognition, and pride.

Augustine (354–430 AD) is one of Christianity’s greatest thinkers. He was trying to understand his own heart before God. that’s a beauty. instead of looking outward for answers, Augustine looked inward, into his memories, desires, fears, failures, and the restless human soul.

“Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Perhaps that’s why reaching one goal only gives birth to another and success never seems to stay satisfying for long.. Augustine described his life before Christ as scattered, fragmented by competing loves.

“Do not go outward; return within yourself. Truth dwells in the inner man.” 💯

Augustine emphasis on the inner life tht profoundly shaped Western Christianity. Over time, some theologians became increasingly interested in God’s inner being and our inner experience, & sometimes paying less attention to the Bible’s grand story of God’s saving work throughout history.

i learnt tht it can co-exist. We need hearts transformed by Christ. We also need to remember that the Bible first introduces us to a God tht introduces Himself by what He does before He explains who He is.

Augustine ends with a prayer that become mine too:

“May I know You, O Lord, who know me; may I know You as I am known.”

Perhaps that’s the journey after all. becoming a person whose restless heart finally finds its rest in Christ.