The Augustine Spur

Posted by J on Aug 22, 2012 in Echo of the Day, J Posts | 1 comment

Julius Caesar invaded Britain the first time in 55 BC. Based on his own writings, scholars figure he arrived in the area of Deal Beach just up the coast from the white cliffs at Dover.

Here is the view today at Deal Beach. The stone marker seems largely forgotten by folks walking up and down the boardwalk.

And another current view, to the sea.

Six hundred years after Caesar, an invader of a different sort arrived in the area. Augustine (not Saint Augustine) was sent by Rome to bring Christianity to Britain’s barbarians in roughly 600 AD.

Here’s what I DID NOT KNOW: Augustine wanted to quit! There are various accounts, but, early in the journey, Augustine and the other monks in his party inquired of Gregory in Rome whether he might be allowed to abandon his uncertain work of the Lord.

Gregory denied the request … and the rest is another layer of British history.

Still, an excerpt from Gregory’s response to Augustine’s inquiry is useful:

“Since it is better not to begin a good work than to think of giving it up once you have started, you, my beloved sons, ought diligently to complete the good work, which, by the help of the Lord, you have undertaken. So do not let the toil of the journey or the tongues of men, discourage you, but with all earnestness and by God’s guidance fulfill what you have started, knowing that great labor is followed by the greater glory of an eternal reward….”

Awesome words for fellow travelers today.

It is also useful to see what remains of Augustine’s EARTHLY mission, an ancient Augustine abbey in Canterbury … nearly lost to time and the elements ….