The job of heartache and attitude to it was one of the cardinal moral, psychological and philosophical issues throughout human history. Many philosophers and psychologists approached it to happen different replies. The issue of get the better ofing heartache is even more of import, because in any instance, we can non be taken in by heartache everlastingly, no affair how serious the loss seems to us.
St.A Augustine was one of the first but non least minds of the past, concerned with the issue. His experience in heartache can be illustrated at best with the scene of his friend from childhood go throughing off.
But he was taken off from my craze, that with Thee he might be preserved for my comfort ; a few yearss after in my absence, he was attacked once more by the febrility, and so bygone.
At this heartache my bosom was absolutely darkened ; and whatever I beheld was decease. My native state was a torture to me, and my male parent ‘s house a unusual sadness ; and whatever I had shared with him, desiring him, became a distracting anguish. ( St.A Augustine, Book IV ) .
As we can see, Augustine was sorely impacted by his beloved loss. He lost his joy of life and longed decease as a redemption from overpowering heartache. He did non happen rest in anything, non in the forests, non in games and music, non in munificent feasts, non in the joys of bed or literature. ( St. Augustine, Book IV ) . But Augustine finally found his redemption in cryings, which were “ Sweet to me, for they succeeded my friend, in the beloved of my fondnesss ” ( Augustine, Book IV ) . After that his feelings changed as he longed to populate and feared and hated decease more than earlier.
Augustine raises a inquiry of how grief can be overcome. His attitude to heartache and grieving is rather clear. In his “ Confession ” , Book III, he stated his “ theory of heartache ” .
First, he asks himself, is it normal to bask heartache? He decides that all desire joy, if they are sane and have common sense, but he concludes that joy of heartache is intermingled to great extent with the ability to be merciful. From clemency and that joy of heartache, by St. Augustine, springs passion. Passion in its bend, arises from “ the vena of friendly relationship ” , which is sometimes crudely turned corrupt. Is so compassion a bad feeling? Surely, non and therefore he states that for the interest of compassion and mercy heartache can be sometimes “ loved ” ( more exactly, accepted “ as is ” ) ( St. Augustine, Book III ) . A individual non able to sorrow unfeignedly is non able to demo true compassion and clemency to those in heartache, which is indispensable non merely for Christianity, but for world as a whole. Further in his “ Confession ” he provides an illustration from his ain life.
But I, suffering, so loved to sorrow, and sought out what to sorrow at, when in another ‘s and that feigned and personated wretchedness, that moving best pleased me, and attracted me the most vehemently, which drew cryings from meaˆ¦And hence the love of heartaches ; non such as should drop deep into me ; for I loved non to endure, what I loved to look on ( St. Augustine, Book III ) .
As we can see, at that clip of his life Augustine took great joy in “ fictional ” heartache, depicted in books and in theatre dramas. Therefore, being able to sympathize with heartache of fictional characters, he so was more able to sympathize with the heartache of populating work forces.
Surely, it is merely natural for any individual, which is sane and has common sense, to sorrow and mourn of any important loss in his or her life. Such is life that 1s who we used to love may go forth us entirely in this universe, we are deprived of place, things we are used to. But, in the astuteness of our heartache and bereavement we must non bury that the life, our life, goes on, and those who passed off certainly would non wish to see us mourning over their decease for the remainder of our lives. As for my ain experience, I have a friend, who lost her female parent when she was 20 old ages old. As her female parent raised her on her ain, female parent was the exclusive individual who took attention about her. Obviously, the girl was crushed with the loss of the lone individual she so unfeignedly loved. But in her status, though it may look excessively matter-of-fact, she did n’t hold much clip to mourn over the decease of her female parent, because now she was all of a sudden on her ain and had to believe how to gain a decent life for herself in the first topographic point. She was lucky to happen a good occupation really rapidly, but it took her much more clip to get the better of her heartache, which she contained indoors and did non demo much of it, except to her close friends.
In this manner, it can be an illustration to turn out that St. Augustine is finally right in his position on heartache. It is natural to sorrow over large losingss, but we must non submerge in our heartache and do it a exclusive sense of our being.
Work Cited
Saint Augustine. The Confession of Saint Augustine. The Project Gutenberg Etext. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.
