Memory: Augustine on God

Memory is our gateway to God because of humans’ inner truth. When Augustine seeks God he is also seeking a life of happiness. Augustine pleads to God in saying “Let me seek you that my soul may live, for as my body draws life from my soul, so does my soul draw its life from you” (Augustine,198). Augustine wants true happiness and the only way to achieve this ultimate goal is not only finding himself but understanding God as a being and once he understands God he will them be able to understand life and the universe. A quote from the essay written by Terence Sweeney he concludes that “Augustine has shown the structure of the beginning of the journey to selfhood, of the coming to oneself needed to start our return. The journey will require many things, including but not limited to: desire of the good, true, and beautiful, askesis of sinful desires, a faith which inspires study and not curiosity, growth in understanding, collecting (cogitate) oneself together, binding (religio) oneself to God, and above all, the grace to begin and continue.73 From the moment the soul comes to itself, it begins a long and difficult journey.” (Sweeney ,687). Which brings up a good point that Augustine went through a journey to not only find himself but find God through it. Once Augustine found God and more importantly understood him he reached his goal of true happiness. Now true happiness to Augustine is when we as humans have fulfilled the journey in seeking God, he even states that “this is all I want; here is happiness” (Augustine,198). Happiness is the joy in seeking truth, once you find truth, you accomplish the goal of happiness. We all want to be happy, . Its an empirical fact that humans seek a happy life.

In conclusion Augustine connects memory, truth, and God all together. As humans we can’t fully grasp the full ability of our minds, whatever account one gives about memory and mind there is always a gap or an unexplainable thought. Memory will always exist and plays a crucial role in our lives. Thus making it a humbler way to think about things that we can’t possible explain. For example, human love, and finally our willingness to accept the ultimate mystery. So next time you find yourself wondering about the mind and how it functions, think to yourself that “the life of happiness exist in the memory” (Augustine, 198).  

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