Wednesday, January 23, 2013
It's a gift...
As I was reading Augustine's Confessions, a paticular passage in Book V:4 stuck out to me,
"A man who knows that he owns a tree and thanks you for the use he has of it, even though he does not know its exact height or the width of its spread, is better than another who measures it and counts all its branches, but neither owns it nor knows and loves its Creator."
We've all heard this before, but all the talents and brainpower we have aren't really ours to begin with but are gifts God has given us. No matter how great we think we are, at the end of the day, none of what we've done or have would be possible without God. We are nothing without him.
Also, the passage made me think about people who don't know what talents they have or what their purpose is. Augustine is saying that you should be grateful for your life and all that you have even when you don't know what all that entails. j
The last part of the passage about the person who's not grateful for the tree, doesn't even own it, and has no love for the tree's creator confused me a bit but I gathered that this talks about people who think that they deserve honor for their talents and strengths even though they had no control over how God made them.
(P.S. Commented on Mallory's)
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I like your point, Emily. I also enjoyed the analogy of the tree. One way that I interpreted that ending part, to add onto your conclusions a bit, is that perhaps it is alluding to the soul/heart. As that paragraph goes on, it is reiterated that a man can have all the knowledge in the world, but without God it is all in vain and his understanding is faulty. The tree could be analogous to one's soul. A philosopher or psychologist could know all about the inner workings and motives and influences of the heart, but because he doesn't love or know God, he can't fully grasp the true meaning. On the other hand, the man who does know God, even if he may not have the intelligence and scientific knowledge, knows the One who holds his heart and He lives in him so he has use and ownership through Christ of his heart which in turn influences and guides the mind and the actions and his influence (like the far reaching branches of a tree).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Amanda! The concept of it being about the soul is really cool.
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