I recently finished, after many years of occasional progress, Saint Augustine’s Confessions, his spiritual autobiography written as a prayer. In reviewing my notes and marks in the book, one prayer stood out afresh for its vulnerability and honesty:
Lord, before whose eyes the abyss of man’s conscience lies naked, what thing within me could be hidden from you, even if I would not confess it to you? I would be hiding you from myself, not myself from you (10.2.2).
