That Your Soul May Live
Listen! Listen to me [the Lord your God] and eat
what is good, and your soul will delight itself in
the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me that
your soul may live…you will go out with joy and
be led forth in peace!
Isaiah 55:3, 12
“Finding the kind of life in which you are truly, deeply happy does not come from anything we can experience in the physical body. No, the kind of happiness that comes through our physical senses quickly passes and becomes just a memory, or else it’s forgotten altogether. Sometimes when I think of base physical pleasures I once enjoyed, I’m even filled with shame and loathing.
Nor does the happy life come from the mind. For sometimes when I’m sad and I recall my past happiness it only causes a melancholy longing—or even frustration and anger—depending on how difficult my present circumstances are. When even a true joy has passed, remembering it brings only sadness.
In neither the body nor the mind have I experienced the truly happy life. How is it then, that I even desire true happiness?Where did the longing come from? Far be it from me, O Lord—far be it from my heart—to think that just any joy will make me happy with the heavenly joy you alone offer. I now know there is a joy that can never be experienced by the ungodly, nor indeed did I ever once find it when I was in an ungodly state. Deep and lasting happiness is found only by those who cherish you, O Lord, for your own sake. Joy is you! And the happy life is this: To rejoice in you. To rejoice for you. To rejoice because of you. I say it again: Life is joy in you, who are the Truth, O my God, the light of my soul, the health of my body!
Those who think there is a different way to find a happy life are pursuing something quite different from happiness—how sad that they do not even realize it. It’s true they will find some reflection of joy. But they will not find the true thing, and in the end they will be sadly disappointed, as I once was. The prophet Isaiah has said, “Seek the Lord that your soul may live.“ Yes—it is only when I am seeking you that your joy floods into my soul, giving happiness and health to my physical being as well.
Confessions 10:20-22
My Father, what a weak fool I would be if I continued trying to draw inner life from anything—from someone I love, from success in my work, even from spiritual service—other than you. So I will draw life from these, your words to me: You call me beloved in Christ Jesus. You call me righteous in Christ Jesus. High king of heaven, I am your child! And my brother is the Lord and Prince of all creation! When I am restless, wanting something to make me “happy,” I know this is your call to me soul. I’ll feast on your Word, and find my life in you!
From Early Will I Seek You: A 40-Day Journey in the Company of Augustine, by David Hazard, Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1991, pp. 25-27.
