Alive again...

Faith is rarely ever easy, and it shouldn't be. The truth is hard to take, too, at times. My friend V once told me when I was struggling with adjusting to my new lifestyle (which involved giving up a few sweet vices), "We should never seek after what makes us happy, but rather what's True."

Admittedly, I resented that comment for a long time. Yet, as I hung on, God continued to console me, to keep me strong, and say "Yes, I am still here." He used a lot of things to do that--friends, books, and long talks with (very patient) priests all included. However, the single biggest thing that kept me going, and still does today, is music.

It was Victor Hugo that said, "Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." I may sound like a typical college student saying this, but hearing a song that speaks to my situation, and promises hope in the midst of struggle, does wonders for me in my wearier moments.

So, as I cook up my next (actually newsworthy!) post this weekend, here is one song that has been close to me lately.

Matt Maher is one of the only Catholic musicians who has successfully broken into the mainstream Christian contemporary music scene, and with good reason. This song, "Alive Again," is the first single off his new album of the same name. It comes from St. Augustine, a man who went from living a life of promiscuity to the priesthood, eventually being named both a saint and a "doctor of the Church."

Here's an excerpt from the full quote of Augustine's:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

And a live acoustic performance: