[One of the many spiritual books that Matt Talbot read in sobriety was
Confessions by St. Augustine, and Matt could certainly relate to the quoted first sentence below.
Based on this book we learn about
his mother, St Monica, who is frequently listed as a patron for
alcoholics.]
GuestHouse Blog
August 28, 2013
“You have made us for Yourself, and our
hearts are restless until they rest in You.” This famous line from the pen of
Augustine resonates in the heart of everyone, maybe most especially in the heart
of those of us in recovery.
Augustine led a dissolute life before his
conversion to Christianity. His life story in his “Confessions” bespeaks many
of our own errant ways before getting into sobriety. It was only through the
insistent prayer of Augustine’s mother, Monica, that he received the grace to
turn his life around. How many of us had the same kind of mother who fretted
over us, who expressed alarm at our waywardness and yet kept hope through prayer
that we would “turn around.” I credit my own mother, Lord rest her soul, who
interceded mightily for me after her death.
Yet now we realize that God and His Spirit
was with us all the time, even in our darkest days and nights. We can now say,
as Augustine did, “late have I loved You, O Beauty both so ancient and so new!
And behold You were with me all the time.”
Today we make our own the Psalm
of David, Ps 139:
You have searched me and you know
me, Lord
Where can I go from Your
Spirit?
From Your presence where can I
flee?
If I go up to the heavens, You
are there;
If I sink to the nether world,
You are present there.
If I take the wings of the
dawn,
If I settle at the farthest
limits of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall guide
me,
And Your right hand hold me
fast.
If I say, surely the darkness
shall hide me,
And night shall be my light –
For You darkness itself is not
dark,
And night shines as the day.
You have searched me and You know
me, Lord.