The journey inward which Augustine invites us to make is a kind of homecoming.

The journey inward which Augustine invites us to make is a kind of homecoming.

For Augustine, the heart is not the place of emotions but the place of richest, deepest thought and peace. It is the centre of our being, where we are totally ourselves, our deepest selves. In allowing ourselves to wander outside, we lose touch with ourselves.

“Why do you want to drift so far away from yourself?” he asks. “Turn back from your idle wandering. Return to your Lord. He is waiting. You have become a stranger to yourself. You do not recognise yourself. And you seek for Him who created you!” If we are a long way from ourselves, he is saying, how can we come near to God? To return is to find our true home, to find our paradise on earth. This is a bold promise. But Augustine’s reason for making it is that when we journey inward it is not just our true self that we find. We find God who has made his home within us.

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