The Cure for a Restless Heart
Saint Augustine (354-430) was an African scholar, philosopher, and theologian.
In The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Augustine cries out to God to look upon him in mercy and forgive his sin.
you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless till it finds rest in you.
Great are you, O Lord, and worthy of high praise. Great is your strength, and of your wisdom there is no counting. Even man is, in his way, a part of your creation, and longs to praise you; even man, who carries in himself his own mortality, that testimony of his sin, that testimony also that you resist the proud; for all that, man is part of your creation, and longs to praise you. You stir us up to take delight in your praise; for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless till it finds rest in you.
Do not hide your face from me. Let me die to see it; for if I do not see it, I shall die.
…Who shall give me the gift of resting in you? Who will grant me this, that you come into my heart and make it drunk, so that I forget my evil deeds and embrace you, my only Good? What are you to me? Have mercy on me, and let me speak. What, for that matter, am I to you? Why do you command me to love you? And if I do not, why are you moved to anger and threaten me with utter misery? But is my misery any the less, if I fail to love you? Have pity, O Lord! For your own mercies’ sake, O Lord my God, tell me what you are to me! Tell my soul: I am your salvation. Speak, and let me hear your voice. Bend down to my soul’s ear, O Lord; open it, and tell my soul: I am your salvation. I shall run after your voice, and catch you. Do not hide your face from me. Let me die to see it; for if I do not see it, I shall die.
The house of my soul is narrow, too narrow for you to come into it; enter it, and make it wider.
The house of my soul is narrow, too narrow for you to come into it; enter it, and make it wider. It lies in ruins; rebuild it. There are things about it that will offend your eyes; I know it and confess it. But who will make it clean? To whom but you can I cry: Cleanse me, O Lord, from my own hidden sins, and from the sins of others spare your servant? I believe, and therefore I speak. Lord, you know this. For have I not declared before you the sins that stand against me? And you, my God, have surely forgiven the impiety of my heart.