Gradually [time] repaired me with delights such as I used to enjoy, and to them my grief yielded. But these delights were succeeded  not by new sorrows but by causes of new sorrows. The reason why that grief had penetrated me so easily and deeply was that I had poured out my soul on the sand by loving a person sure to die as if he would never die. The greatest source of repair and restoration [of my grief] was the solace of other friends, with whom I loved what I loved as a substitute for you; and this was the vast myth and a long lie. By its adulterous caress, my mind which had “itching ears” was corrupted.

—Augustine, Confessions 4.8.13

In this poignant passage, Augustine reminds us of why we grieve. We put our ultimate love, loyalty, and hope in people and things that are mortal and bound to pass away. Augustine is not telling us not to love others. He understood that God created us to have relationships, both with him and each other. Instead, Augustine is reminding us that when we attach our ultimate hope and loyalty to things that must pass away, we are bound to grieve because eventually we will lose them to death.

In other words, what Augustine is implicitly identifying in this passage is a by-product of human sin and rebellion—human pride. Instead of keeping God the main thing as we were created to do, we choose to keep transient things the main thing and we suffer mightily for it. This is the essence of human sin. We miss the mark of God because we think we know better than God.

When we finally come to put our ultimate hope and trust in God, we will never be disappointed because God is unchanging and eternal. He cannot pass away. We cannot lose him to death. And because he is merciful and faithful, we can count on him to love us and renew us.

This Lenten season, think on these things and ponder them deeply.