God’s Call to Restore Our Common Sense

Today is the feast of Saint Augustine, my confirmation saint.  In celebration, this morning I made sure to leave some time to pray the Office of Readings in the Divine Office, and I was particularly struck by this passage from Jeremiah (4:1-3):

If you wish to return, O Israel, says the Lord,
return to me.
If you put your destestable things out of my sight,
and do not stray,
Then you can swear, “As the Lord lives,”
in truth, in judgment, and in justice;
Then shall then nations use his name in blessing
and glory in him.

For to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, thus says the Lord:

Till your untilled ground,
sow not among thorns.

I like the simplicity of the commands.  If you wish to return… start by returning!  When the Lord begins giving commands for the reformation of Judah and Jerusalem, the prescribed actions (plough, plant) are as commonsensical and as clearly ordered to the good of the people as “Eat food.  Drink water.”

It’s a very “His yoke is easy, his burden is light” moment.

But all this comes after a lengthy harangue about Israel playing the harlot through idolatry.  During the verses of scolding, it’s easier to imagine that falling away from God involved something decadent and exciting, but by the time we reach the verses of correction, the earlier dalliances seem absurd.  What kind of error would lead you to sow among thorns on purpose?  Why would the kids put beans in their ears?

The simplicity of the homecoming that Judah and Jerusalem are called to mirrors the moment of conversion for Augustine.  At the pivotal moment, his command was simple, “Tolle, lege” (Take up and read).  Coming home wasn’t novel or strange, it was as plain as “Be fed.”

After his periods of intellectual infatuation and idolatry, Augustine wasn’t saved through secret knowledge and societies (as in Manichaeism), but though the testament that had been handed on to everyone, publicly.  Returning isn’t a grand, romantic gesture — just the business of finally going about your life again.

Sam Rocha’s Augustine-themed album of soul music (caution, link autoplays) launches today.

Also today, I’m beginning a Norbertine novena in honor of my friend Michael Hannon, who entered the abbey yesterday.