Weakened by our various ailments, we all look for something to rest on. Good people find rest in their home, in their spouse, in their children, in the modest pleasures of their life, in their little piece of property, in the plants they have set in the ground with their own hands, in the buildings they have constructed. But because God wants us to be in love only with eternal life, he mingles bitter elements with these innocent pleasures so that even in the midst of our joys we are not totally comfortable. God allows “the sheets of our bed to be wrinkled” so that we will not fall in love with this earthy barn instead of longing for the true home that awaits us in heaven.

—Augustine, Commentary on Psalm 40, 5