Here’s an excerpt from St.
Augustine’s Confessions, in which he
laments his hesitant embrace of faith in God.
Late have I loved you
Late have I loved you,
Beauty so ancient and so new,
late have I loved you!
Lo, you were within,
but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in you.
but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in you.
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped;
and now I pant for you;
I tasted you,
I tasted you,
and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me,
you touched me,
and I burned for your peace.
When at last I cling to you with my whole being
there will be no more anguish or labor for me,
and my life will be alive indeed,
alive because filled with you.
~ Augustine of Hippo, Confessions. Posted on Crossroads Initiative. https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/
