Let them turn back, and seek you, for you do not forsake your creation as they have forsaken their creator. Let them only turn back. See! There you are in their hearts, in the hearts of all those who confess to you, who fling themselves into your arms and weep against your breast after their difficult journey, while you so easily will wipe away their tears. At this they weep the more, yet even their laments are matter for joy, because you, Lord, are not some human being of flesh and blood, but the Lord who made them, and now make them anew and comfort them.

– Saint Augustine, The Confessions V, 2, 2.