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August 28
Augustine, Moses the Ethiopian, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and the March on Washington
David Barnhart
August 28, 2025
2020. Own photo.
Today is the feast day of Saint Augustine (pronounced au-GUST-in) of Hippo, who died on this day in the year 430. St. Augustine had an enormous impact on early Christian theology. His book Confessions is a classic story of sin and grace, and tells of how his conversion happened when he heard a child next door singing, “pick it up and read, pick it up and read.” He picked up his Bible, read the words of Paul about turning away from sin, and made a commitment to Christ. St. Augustine also introduced the concept of “original sin” to Christian theology, which has, unfortunately, been a key component of spiritual abuse for centuries.
Today is also the feast day of Saint Moses the Ethiopian, who, as leader of a band of thieves, sought shelter in a monastery and had a conversion experience there. He died in the year 405.
Today is also the birthday, in 1749, of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German philosopher and author, who influenced generations of Western thinkers. His most famous work is probably Faust, the story of a man who makes a deal with the devil.
Also on this day, Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his I Have a Dream speech in Washington, DC at the Lincoln Memorial. The full title of the event at which he spoke was called “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” It is important for us as Christians to remember that Dr. King’s speech was linked to specific policy goals for racial and economic justice, not just images of racial harmony. In addition to Rev. Dr. King’s, participants in this Civil Rights rally witnessed songs by Mahalia Jackson and a speech by Josephine Baker.
Reflection:
On one wall of Saint Augustine’s room, in large letters, were written these words:
“Here we do not speak evil of anyone.”
Saint Moses the Ethiopian once spoke to a brother about contemplative prayer: “Go sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.”
In her speech at the March on Washington in 1963, Josephine Baker said,
“I do not lie to you when I tell you I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad. And when I get mad, you know that I open my big mouth. And then look out, ‘cause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over the world.”
Some of Goethe’s most quotable quotes:
“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”
And especially appropriate for the United States today:
“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”
Prayer: God of Mercy, you know the sin that meets us at our origin, the tangled web of structural and spiritual oppression that passes trauma from one generation to the next. Heal us of our spiritual and social wounds, so that we may fully reflect your image. Amen.