Flickr

So far my favorite part of this assignment has been the oppertunity to gather some amazing photography from Flickr. I have been so engrossed by the entire of process of choosing photos because I feel that every photo must have an immediate connect to what is being said. With this thought, I was forced to refocus my paper in a way to cooperate with the excellent photography I am pulling from the internet. At this point in the process, I feel that the hardest part will be matching these two seperate ideas and bringing them together into one.

Desire. Good vs Bad

Throughout the Confessions of Augustine, desire is inherently linked with evil and suggestive of other negative connotations. Although the desires that Augustine emphasizes are portrayed as bad, I believe that Augustine is also filled with desires of the most pure. In Confessions, desire is linked with negativity because Augustine speaks only of his desire for woman, vanity, and pleasure. It is because of his modesty and constant self imposed pressure that Augustine never speaks of his insatiable desire for knowledge or his longing for the love of God. Augustine refrains from calling these positive aspects desire, but the truth is that he longs to find truth in God, whether acting as a skeptic or not, he none the less tirelessly searches for the answers.

It is true that Augustine is filled with the insatiable desire for things unholy, but that is not to discredit the positive role of desire in the other portion of his existence. Desire acts as both a positive and negative catalyst in the life of Augustine and therefore desire is neither wholly good nor evil, but both.

"Seek what you seek, but it is not where you seek it. You seek happiness of life in the land of death, and it is not there. For how shall there be happiness of life where there is no life?"

We established that this appears to be the central dogma of this book, which truly portrays why Augustine's actions are as scrutinized as they are. Throughout Confessions, Augustine seeks pleasure and truth in the wrong places, whether they be in vanity or in superficial things such as lust (often misconstrued with love). The "happiness of life" which Augustine so treasures and struggles so strongly to attain is not in these temporal places, however, they are found only in a true union with the Lord. Augustine realizes this yet is distracted his earthly desires and urges. Through ignoring the temporal truths that he finds in satisfying his desires, he can attain to a sincere relationship with God and therefore put his woes to rest and Augustine will find the happiness of life.