Finally sitting down.

Relax. Have a seat. Get something done by writing something down. So you've finally endevored to ask yourself the difficult questions, good for you.

In this book, How the Irish Saved Civilization-I've listened to at least 15 times in it's entirety- Thomas Cahill, the author, uses the life and works of Augustin to illustrate classical life. His brief biography of this "classical man" not only serves Cahill's purpose: to contrast the classical world-an epoch filled with deep culture, order and academics- with the chaotic, harsh and, most importantly, illiterate Middle Ages. But it also gave a glimpse of Augustin as a monumental figure in literature, religion and latin. He was the first person to say the word "I" and mean what we mean today.

This part of the book was most powerful for me, most moving, because it introduced me to Augustin as a young man. Augustin was Romanized African whose father was a petty official. When he was young- my age- he settled in Carthage, the largest city in Roman Africa. In his autobiography, called "Confessions", he tells us that his soul was unsettled, restless, constantly searching for... something. A translated verse from Cahill, "I carried inside me a cut and bleeding soul, and how to get ride of it I just didn't know. I sought every pleasure: the countryside, sports, fooling around, the peace of a garden, friends and good company, sex, reading. My soul floundered in the void and came back upon me. For where could my heart flee from my heart..."
Amazing. This encapsulates my feelings so utterly, so completely, that I am brought to the edge of emotion...