The Unprofitable Servant

 The Unprofitable Servant  

I call upon you, O God, my mercy, you who created me, and did not forget me when I forgot you. Let me know you, for you are the God who knows me; you are the power of my soul, come into it and make it fit for yourself. This is my hope.

I beg you to come into my heart, for by inspiring it to long for you, you make it ready to receive you.

Now as I call upon you, do not desert me, for you came to my aid before I called for you. When I was far from you, you persuaded me to listen to your voice, to turn back to you.

I called upon you for help, but all the time it was you who were calling me to yourself. You blotted out all my sins and did not repay me with the punishments I deserved.

I was nothing, you need not have given me being; before I was you were, you had no need of me. My service has not the value of a countryman's who tills his master's land, for if I do not serve you with my labour, your work still bears fruit.

I can only serve you and worship you with the good that comes from you. It is from you alone that I receive it, for but for you I should have no being.


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St Augustine --- The Heart at Rest