I wanted to do a post of some sort on St. Augustine both because his feast is tomorrow - the 27th - and, since I am in an Augustine and Aquinas class this semester, I figure I could probably find a good quote to go off of. As it turns out, we just started Augustine's On Free Choice of the Will in class and not only has it become one of my favorite philosophy books (so far) because of its easy comprehensibility and depth of topic, but it also has a pretty good quote for the occasion.
Take heart, and set out confidently and piously in the paths of reason. There is nothing so abstruse of difficult that it cannot become completely clear and straightforward with God's help. - (Page 10, Book 1, Paragraph 6, On Free Choice of the Will)
What can I say, I wish I had remembered this line in metaphysics class. I love the class, philosophy can be fun when the topic is interesting and the professor is knowledgeable and engaging, but today the room was stiflingly hot, and the topic was tough to wrap my mind around. We talked about what is real (or actual), proper and extended senses to that terminology, stuff that can't be real (square circles), and what is being,. Plus, many different views on that subject: phenomenalism - which says that something is real because it does actions, materialism - which says that something is real because it is made of matter, essentialism - which says that something is real because it shares in the quiddity (yeah, I hadn't heard that word before either) of the higher form of itself, existentialism - which says that something is real because it is (or is for) a person, and thomism - which we never quite finished defining. - it was definitely on the deep end of philosophy, and this is definitely an almost uselessly simple overview of the topic. Anyway, I could have definitely used some Divine inspiration to help my brain out. Now that I have given you something that is difficult (for me), I should probably give you something on God's help:
Example #1 - Seminary. Seriously, there is no way that I would have learned this much, had this much fun, and grown in so many other ways if God hadn't put me here and helped me along the way. I guess that is a pretty simple example, but I really am immensely blessed to be here. Not that I am thinking of discerning out (by any means), but no matter what I do in the future, these will remain fond memories and phenomenal foundations for the rest of my life.
Example #2 - Augustine's life. Augustine, if you don't already know, was quite the character (in the bad sense) when growing up. The son of an (originally) pagan father and a Christian mother, adolescence hit him like a ton of bricks. He went out with the wrong crowd, did lots of bad things, became a heretic, and on and on... Thankfully, his mother, Monica (who's feast day is today), continued praying for her son's conversion, and thankfully, if my recollection of the
Confessions, is accurate, Augustine continued to constantly search(with varying success) for truth. These two factors (both, I think, coming from God's grace) meant his eventual (re)conversation to Christianity. Of course, his impact on the Church has been immense, though, due to limits on time, I can't really go into any details, but I think his life story is a wonderful example of how much of an effect God can have on our life.
Of course, that is a tad off topic to the quote from St. Augustine, which primarily covered philosophical or intellectual achievements made with the help of God, but I think that we all (myself especially) can always use a reminder that God will help us in everything we do (so long as we are willing to surrender it to Him). OK, that's all I've got for now. Have a wonderful feast of St. Augustine, remember to pray with perseverance like St. Monica, and don't forget to constantly give your day to God.
A source for this exquisite piece of literary excellence:
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Example #2 - Augustine's life. Augustine, if you don't already know, was quite the character (in the bad sense) when growing up. The son of an (originally) pagan father and a Christian mother, adolescence hit him like a ton of bricks. He went out with the wrong crowd, did lots of bad things, became a heretic, and on and on... Thankfully, his mother, Monica (who's feast day is today), continued praying for her son's conversion, and thankfully, if my recollection of the Confessions, is accurate, Augustine continued to constantly search(with varying success) for truth. These two factors (both, I think, coming from God's grace) meant his eventual (re)conversation to Christianity. Of course, his impact on the Church has been immense, though, due to limits on time, I can't really go into any details, but I think his life story is a wonderful example of how much of an effect God can have on our life.
