On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts

by James K.A. Smith

You can hear this counsel in his sermon on Psalm 72, reflecting on Israel’s experience after the exodus, its liberation through the sea. “Notice this point, brothers and sisters,” he admonishes. “After crossing the Red Sea the Israelites are not given their homeland immediately, nor are they allowed carefree triumph, as though all their foes had disappeared. They still have to face the loneliness of the desert, and enemies still lurk along their way.” Here is a template for the experience of a converted life: “So too after baptism Christian life must still confront temptations. In that wilderness the Israelites sighed after their promised homeland; and what else do Christians sigh for, once washed clean in baptism? Do they already reign with Christ? No; we have not reached our homeland yet, but it will not vanish; the hymns of David will not fail there.” The key is to know where we are, and whose we are, and where we’re headed, and not be surprised by the burdens of the road. “Let all the faithful listen and mark this; let them realize where they are. They are in the desert, sighing for their homeland.” The Egyptians might not be pursuing us anymore, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t new threats on the way, “lying in ambush along our path.”27 To know where you’re headed is not a promise of smooth sailing.