St.
Augustine was known as the father of Christian and Western civilization.
Together with Athanasius, he laid the foundation of Christianity after the
period of the Christian persecution under the Romans; therefore, Augustine
marks the transition of era between antiquity and Christendom. Augustine was
born in Thagaste, now modern Algeria, in Roman Africa in the year 354 AD from a
pagan father and a Christian mother. He studied in one of the best secular
school in his time and was known to be very smart; as young adults, Augustine
have become a teacher in his school. Later, he kept on studying rhetoric to
pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer. Throughout his study, Augustine was also
continually searching with a restless heart for the true meaning of life. He
tried to study different philosophies, but was never satisfied until he finally
found Jesus when he met Ambrose in the University of Milan. After being
baptized in the age of 33, Augustine return to Thagaste and started a Christian
community, and later he started to write. In one of his famous book,
Confession, he wrote, “You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are
restless until they rest in you.” Augustine shows in his writing that the true
meaning of life is in God; without God, life is meaningless.
In
the modern world today, people are focusing too much on materialism and
forsaking God. Many people thought that material is everything for them; they
can buy anything when they are wealthy. With such mindset and the human nature
of greed, most people will never be satisfied with what they have until the
time when they’re on their death bed. It was too late when they realize that
all the wealth and their life was meaningless. One of the examples is my neighbor
who’s a very successful and wealthy woman. She was always busy with her
occupations and was never available for any kind of church activity. After a
medical check-up, a severe breast cancer was diagnosed in her. When some
members from the church visited her in the hospital, she confess that all her
wealth and achievements was meaningless to her current state and she regretted
that she have not build a good relation with God. Only after few weeks she
passed away. Another example could be Michael Jackson. He was a very wealthy
and famous world artist, but he was still not satisfied with his life,
especially in the area of appearance, and went through many operations that
caused him a skin disease and eventually leading him to a slow and painful
death.
In
order for us to have a meaningful life, we should make God the Lord of our life
and live according to God’s purpose in our life; therefore, we would realize
that our life is not just about materials or anything personal for them,
because our life is not our own anymore, it is all God’s. As we surrender our
life to His Lordship, we surrender all our plans and ambitions in order for His
purpose to work through our life. God have a purpose in everyone’s life;
however, God gave everyone a freedom to choose either to follow God living a
purposeful life or our own way of life with no clear purpose. When we live
according to God’s purpose and will, we will live joyfully and will never
regret our life.
There was a story of a Christian
man who suffers cancer for a very long time; nevertheless, he has a really good
relationship with Jesus throughout his life. One day, the man’s daughter called
the priest to come and pray with her father. When the priest came and entered
the man’s room, he saw an empty chair sitting beside the man’s bed. The priest
thought that it was set for him, but after he greeted and question the man, the
man told the priest that the chair was not set for him. The man explained to
the priest that in his whole life, he had never known how to pray though he has
heard many teachings in the church. Until few years ago, his best friend told
him “Prayer is just a simple matter of having conversation with Jesus. Here is
what I suggest. Sit down on a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and
in faith see Jesus on the chair. Then just speak to him in the same way you’re
doing with me.” The man continued to tell the priest that he tried to do what
his friend said and he enjoyed doing it a couple hours every day. The priest
was moved by the man’s story and encouraged the man to continue his journey.
After they pray, the priest return to church. Two nights later, the daughter
told the priest that her daddy had died that after noon. The daughter also said
that there was something strange about his death because just before her daddy
died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. The
priest wiped a tear and said, “I wish we could all go like that.” This story
shows how someone who suffers almost his whole life in cancer could go through
his life in peace and joy with Jesus always beside him until his last breath.
Even though this man had to experience cancer in his life, he did not lose his
peace and joy; he did not let his circumstances bring him down. He understood
that his meaning of life is not found in his condition, but in Christ alone.
As a conclusion, St. Augustine has
showed us through his life experience that a life without God is meaningless.
Nowadays, many people are forsaking God in their life and focus more to the
material thinking that material is everything. At the end of life, the people
just realize that all their wealth was of no value, and it is too late for them
to realize that they don’t have a good relationship with God in their life. No matter the circumstances, God’s purpose
and will are always the best for us. I truly believe that The Will of God will
never take us where the Grace of God will not protect us.