Originally published at crisis magazine
Editor’s Note: This is the ninth in a series of articles on St. Augustine, one of the greatest of Church Fathers, and how his writings still apply today.
A large mug arrived in the mail the other day, around which I counted twenty or so apothegms written by St. Augustine. It was a gift, anonymously sent by someone who obviously thought I wasn’t getting enough to read from the celebrated Doctor of Grace—or, that being already familiar with Augustine, it might be a nice touch while sipping my coffee to sample a few all over again. Either way, I was grateful to get the mug and have since increased my intake of coffee.
Since most readers may not have such a coffee cup, here’s a sample tagline to suggest where I’m going with this. Think of it as the segue to what follows from the last article: “God provides the wind, but man must raise the sails.”
Neatly put, yes? Notice, too, how it all turns on a paradox, which is that while we depend upon the wind—indeed, without it nothing sails—we’re not wholly passive as if God were the only one piloting the vessel. That would leave us prey to
