What If We Lived Freely Every Moment?

By Simone Riva — How Authentic Conversations and Augustine’s Wisdom Teach Us to Live Fully and Openly in Every Moment

It's always intriguing to observe people expressing their true thoughts. This often happens during the simplest moments of the day when individuals engage in candid or unguarded conversations. Particularly when one is expected to conform and play the role of the agreeable participant, these moments of freedom open a world that can even astonish the speakers.

Interacting with children, particularly in school settings, provides daily insights. Without the constraints of conventional expectations, children express their inner thoughts and feelings spontaneously, often without contemplating the consequences. While their views may not always be well-reasoned, they reflect a genuine effort to participate actively in the world around them. It's rewarding to listen to these young voices, encouraging their candor and prompting them to delve deeper into their inquiries enhances their learning experience.

Similarly, adults experience such moments, often during casual encounters‌ — ‌on stairways, between meetings, in the teachers' lounge, outside church‌‌ or on the streets. The underlying impression is that true freedom involves risks. But what is missing in reality that prevents us from living freely at every moment? Not merely acting on impulse or reaction, but liberated from the roles others have imposed or expected of us?

St. Augustine addresses this in one of his texts. He compares our capacity for receiving gifts to a vessel: "If you have to fill a vessel and you know that it will receive a great abundance, you try to increase its capacity. Similarly, God, by making us wait, intensifies our desire. Through this desire, he expands the soul, making it more receptive."

The real question is about our expectations of reality‌ — ‌are we expecting an abundant gift or mere emptiness? The less we expect, the less open we become, often taking everything for granted and building walls that prevent deeper engagement. Conversely, living with the anticipation of something great transforms every circumstance into a personal opportunity.

Augustine suggests that God uses desire to expand our souls, making them more capable. The greatest obstacle here is impatience. Waiting requires significant sacrifice. You might prepare a lesson, plan an event‌‌ or harbor educational concerns, only to encounter disinterest or apathy. At this juncture, one faces a critical decision: to resent others or to renew one's own desire. This challenge is radical, leaving no room for pretense. Perhaps in a quiet admission, it prevents us from maintaining a facade for too long by finally choosing to be fully present to ourselves.
Unrevised translation by the author - Monza 04.23.2024