THE YOUTHFUL AUGUSTINE YESTERDAY AND TODAY:

ANY LESSONS FOR ME AS A YOUTH?

OPENING STATEMENT

As a youth, I feel very obliged to write down this piece. My feelings are inspired by the fact that I have to connect the term or better still, the reality of the word “youth”, with the life of St Augustine; this is with the intention of situating it within the youthful content, giving it an Augustinian mark and spark. My experiences are my major source of inspiration, the experience of a youth, who has lived according to the Augustinian way of life for more than five years. This does not in any way make me the best candidate for writing this piece, No. But it makes me, as other Augustinian students, suited for this kind of academic-cum-spiritual exercise.

THE TERM-YOUTH

The word “youth” according to the Encarta dictionary of English learning is a time when somebody is young: a period of human life between childhood and maturity. It may also refer to the state of being young or to a young man or woman in his/her teens or early twenties. One may refer to it as a state or a period of inexperience, for if we are to refer to adulthood as a mature state of great experience, then the youth falls short. Nonetheless, the youth is a step beyond the infant stage/childhood or the stage of “teen-hood”. It is a state of great zeal and exploration, a time of making and breaking new ground, a time to make good one's numerous aspirations come to fruition. It is a time of heavy mistakes and regrets and if not well directed, could cause very many upsets in latter times of one's life. It is a period of a lot of energy, a period to make use of this energy for ones benefit or for one's destruction. It is a period of selfishness, but unlike that of the teen, it is not a period when one thinks that the world begins and ends with oneself. It is rather a period when one comes to appreciate the eventuality that life has bestowed on oneself and to the community. Whereas the teen looks for attention in everything he/she does, the youth is very much in the know of who he/she is and what he/she wants. The youth thus acts accordingly. This is not to say that there are no exceptions, for there are youths who still seek attention and depend on people's nod when confronted with situations. And yet, man is a being who seeks attention, so the youth does not act any different. But as compared to the teen years, the attention sought by the youth in wanting to be acknowledged, is not extreme. From all that has been described one may think that the youth is very much like the teen; true. To add to this, the teen is like the child and the adult is like the youth. This goes to imply that there are many factors that work on man to make him what he is, namely environmental, social and religious etc. The youth may possess the same qualities as the teen, but he is differentiated by the fact of his maturity, after having gone through the stage of “teen-hood”.

One very strong point of this period is the drive to attain joy. Man is driven by and towards that which will give him happiness and fulfillment; in a word, joy. The youth is one whose drive for joy can earn him regret, if not well harnessed. He may attain this joy, but may do this at the cost of his life. We have earlier asserted that this period is one of energy; this is what makes it perilous, for with such energy, the youth will do all that is in his/her power to actualize his/her dreams, goals and potentials. In such a situation, the youth is thus termed restless; his restlessness resides in his/her drive to attain to joy. They would do anything to make sure that he achieves it. This drive for joy is appropriated in varying ways, for while some youths are drawn to work hard, others would be drawn to laziness. In spite of this, joy is what motivates both. Again some would go to any extent to attain this joy- some will steal, kill, and engage in acts of fornication etc, all for pleasure. It is a state of passion, one that can again be wrongly or rightly channelled. Others are drawn remarkably into religion with the full conviction that in God resides their joy, and their joy is fulfilled in Him. These are often unfortunately termed holy holy. This stage if channelled wrongly can produce socio-psychological instability that is unprecedented. In the adults resides wisdom, some of which are evil-inclined. These adults make use of the energy of these youths, as instruments of their ulterior motives, promising these youths false pleasure that their hearts earnestly seek. In their folly, the youths, in a zombie-like fashion follow suit (this has accounted for the violence in the world today- in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, until recently England, and indeed the whole world). This folly is characterized by inexperience. In such a state, they can easily be deceived, as they have always been. It is a period of stubbornness, when one believes that one knows what is best, which includes the pleasure sought after.

AUGUSTINE AS A YOUTH

St Augustine's life was no different from the above list of characteristic of youthful state. His was very much like ours, a search for joy, for happiness, one that made him take a woman outside the holy union (although one that made him live in fidelity to that woman). This union with an unknown woman indicates the kind of internal struggle, St Augustine had to battle greatly with, a life of sin, of lust (which I insist was no different than what youths today experience). Other youthful habits of Augustine include a series of selfish ambitions and dreams, continued mischief with his friends in the neighbourhood, a life of utmost disobedience and disregard for his mother's warnings, a life that was marked by a desire to attain intellectual heights. In the Conf, 2, 3, 5, for example, he tells us that in his “sixteenth year”, he was already through with his high school studies, a remarkable and rare feat. He later informs us that he read the Hortensius of Cicero, at the age of nineteen, again a remarkable feat, for one at such age. (Fr. Emmanuel Czar Alvarez, OSA, p1) We can thus deduce from this that in his intellect, lay his strength, and he was poised to developing it. This led him away from his mother and his country of birth, in search of a life as an intellectual. His flair for rationality, made him question the faith of his mother, as not acceptable, making him try out some religious sects, renouncing thus the Christian religion. In spite of his intelligence, he had some difficulties in some academic areas (one would not expect such from the like of Augustine). But he made mention of his hatred for Greek. He insists “I hated the Greek that was dinned into me in early boyhood” (ibid, p7). What I want to draw from this is that Augustine was a normal youth, and not a super youth of any sort.

A LESSON FOR YOUTHS

The youthful life of St Augustine fits into what the young people experience today. Whether one is battling with one’s lustful passions, or craving to carve out a niche for one self in academic life, or being stubborn or the knack in disregarding rules and regulations of a given system, or the pleasure one derives from outwitting others, making others suffer pain, or the joy in what one has acquired through mischief, or being sinful, St Augustine becomes a pedestal and beacon of hope to young people.

Augustine remarks that “People delight only in what they love; but they love only what they want to love” (Prayer 3). In the case of the youth, he delights in having constant happiness and joy. This is what he/she loves and thus delights in; the youth wants to be happy. Augustine will further go on to assert that: “it does not follow that everyone who attains what he/she loves is happy” (Prayer). Happiness for Augustine consists in “permanent possession and everlasting love of the Supreme Being, the Supreme Good, which is God” (Prayer 5). In his opinion, you will not be happy if you are unable to possess what you love, be that what it may; nor can you be happy if you do not love what you have, be it ever so good; nor even if you are able to have what you love, if it be harmful to you (you will still not be happy, my addition). To be happy thus, a man must have what he has, and love what he has, and it must be something that will do him no harm (Prayer 4). This is only attainable with and in the Supreme Being, Good- God; no mundane, created good can satisfy this.

From the life of St Augustine, youths should understand that in life there can be no substitute to possessing God. The joy and happiness the youth longs for is only attained in ‘possessive’ communion with God, for He is the source of all joy and happiness. One may imagine that situating oneself within the boundless joy of God is a waste of time. The youth will ask: is going to church or seeking God able to give me the joy I desire? In our contemporary world, where everything is moving at a supersonic speed, would seeking God not slow down my programmes? I am preparing for a job interview. Is there need to pray, or should I be reading and scouting for the best way to outwit the rest? I am looking for a husband or wife, should I consult God or I should pick the one that my heart goes for, the one that would attend to my bodily needs? In all things that my heart goes for, should there be a ‘possessive’ communion with God, a fellowship? St Augustine speaks to you and me today, as he says: fulfillment lies with and in God. One does not have to become a priest or a nun, to have this fulfillment.

Fulfillment resides in us, as God's children. As adopted children of God, born in the blood of Jesus, this fulfillment can only be activated; it can only become real in communion with God. Fulfillment lies dormant in us as God's children. He who gives such fulfillment expects that we wilfully cooperate with Him in making this come to bear in our lives. It behooves on us to look inwards and appreciate the living existence of God in us. It entails allowing God to actively participate in our daily activities, by being in communion with Him. This communion can only be achieved through prayer. In fact, PRAYER is the means to which the communion and possession meant by Augustine, is attained, and is the chief lesson for the youth in his inexperience.

Youths constantly grapple with the meaning of life and as such they come in contact with many errors after many trials, trying to make things work, for their good. We should take cue from St Augustine, who after his many trials and errors, was able to remark “Late have I known you Oh beauty ever ancient ever new” (St Augustine's Confessions Bk X, 27(38)). Such was the cry of an adult who regretted his youthful life, led in the absence of God. St Augustine was able to find out that the joy that his heart so sought after was within him. He remarked, “Behold, Thou were within, and I without, and there did I seek Thee; I, unlovely, rushed heedlessly among the things of beauty: Thou madest” (ibid). This enlightenment that St Augustine got was not something that was alien to him, and was made known. It was something that had ever been with him, to which he was blind to seeing. He states: “Thou were with me, but I was not with Thee. Those things kept me far from Thee, which, unless they were in Thee, were not” (ibid). This blindness was occasioned by his consideration of created things, more than the Creator of things. It meant that he was to locate this joy within the boundless love of the Creator, in whom all things “live, move and have their being” (cf Acts17:28). God was a reality ever present that Augustine was never aware of, as it is with most youths today, even those that consider themselves religious, in the broader sense of the term.

In the midst of it all, we should ask St Augustine himself, whether he was ever satisfied? Was there fulfillment after he attained to his numerous earthly achievements? We should be well aware that he achieved all he set out to achieve: for in lust, he found a woman who bore him a son and in intellectual ambition, he attained a chair in the university. Augustine was never satisfied till he entered into deep fellowship with Love. Communion with God thus entails that we allow, Love, which is God, to lead the way. Augustine insists that the only way to attain joy is to possess God in love and the only way our love for God is measured, is not by how we feel, but by how we live; not by sentimentality and emotion, but by our conduct and behaviour (Prayer 32). By bringing love into the practical realm, we give free rein to its power in our beings to inwardly possess and transform, and outwardly project as a light to and for the world. This joy the youth longs for is not only in the possessing of love via communion, it is also in the living in love, again via communion, for in communion, we possess, and in possessing we commune.

Let me conclude by recalling the chorus of a song composed by the defunct English female group- the Spice Girls, which captures the sentiments and rationality of a youth, which shows him as inexperienced, but has the capacity he hardly realizes: “Part of me laughs, part of me cries, part of me wants to question why. Why is there joy, why is there pain, why is there sunshine and the rain. One day you are here, next you are gone…just keep your faith and let Love lead the way. For everything will work out fine if you let Love (God), lead the way.”

References:

Fr. Emmanuel Czar Alvarez, OSA. A paper seminar given to the Augustinian students in Nigeria (24^th-27^th June, 2011).

St Augustine's confessions Bk X, 27(38)

Thomas A Hand OSA, ST AUGUSTINE ON PRAYER, Dublin, Gill and Son, 1963.