If you love me, don't cry, Saint Augustine

If You Love Me, Don't Cry: A Reflection on Saint Augustine Saint Augustine's life is one of the most complex and inspiring stories in the history of Christianity. Born in North Africa in 354 CE, Augustine grew up in a family of modest means that provided him with a solid education. But despite his promising future, Augustine spent his early adult years living the life of a restless and dissipated young man, seeking joy and meaning in all the wrong places. It was only after his dramatic conversion to Christianity at age 31 that Augustine's life took a radical turn. He became one of the greatest theologians and philosophers in the history of the church, leaving behind a body of work that remains influential to this day. Throughout his life, Augustine wrote at length about the challenges and joys of Christian discipleship. One of his most famous sayings is a short but powerful one: "If you love me, don't cry." To understand the significance of this statement, we need to delve deeper into Augustine's theology and his understanding of what it means to love God. For Augustine, love was not just an emotion or a feeling, but a state of being. To love God, then, was not simply to feel a warm and fuzzy affection for him, but to align one's entire life with his will and purposes. This meant submitting to God's commands and seeking to imitate his character in all things. But loving God in this way was not easy. Augustine recognized that the Christian life was full of trials and difficulties, and that even the most devoted disciples would experience moments of sorrow and pain. It was in these moments that his words "don't cry" took on their deepest meaning. What Augustine was saying was that if we truly love God, we will trust that he knows what is best for us, even when we can't see it ourselves. We will trust that he is working all things together for our good, even when we are in the midst of profound suffering. And we will trust that he will ultimately bring us to the place of joy and peace that he has promised us, even if we can't imagine it yet. This kind of trust is not easy to cultivate, especially in a world that often seems to be spinning out of control. But Augustine believed that it was crucial for the Christian life, and that it was only through this kind of trust that we could truly love God with all our hearts and souls. So if you love me, don't cry. Trust that I am with you always, and that I am working all things together for your good. Trust that I have a plan and a purpose for your life, even when it seems like nothing makes sense. And trust that one day, you will see me face to face, and all the tears will be wiped away forever. Saint Augustine's life is a reminder that no matter how far we may wander from God, there is always hope for redemption and transformation. And his words "if you love me, don't cry" are a call to trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God, even in the midst of the hardest moments of life. May we all learn to love God in this way, and may his grace sustain us through all the joys and sorrows of this life.