A Restless Age

Book excerpt: Do your twenties feel restless? You're not the first young adult to feel this way. Saint Augustine describes the same struggle in his Confessions, the most-read spiritual memoir in history. He experimented with different religious options, tried to break destructive habits, struggled to find the right friends, experienced a devastating breakup, and nearly burned out in his career-all before his thirty-second birthday. He spent his twenties looking for rest in all the wrong places. In A Restless Age, Austin Gohn wades through Augustine's Confessions to show us how the five searches of young adulthood-answers, habits, belonging, love, and work-are actually searches for rest. "Our heart is restless," Augustine writes, "until it finds rest in you." Most of us spend our twenties looking for rest, but God is inviting you to spend your twenties living from rest. Endorsements "Austin Gohn shares my passionate hope that the Confessions will become as useful to Protestants as it has been to Catholics over the centuries. . . . he comes straight to the point in every discussion, and shows a virtuoso sympathy with young people in confusing, trying times." Sarah Ruden, Translator of Augustine's Confessions "Young adults need old, time-tested wisdom, especially in today's world of social media ephemera and soul-crushing digital delirium. Augustine is a good place to start, and A Restless Age tells us why." Brett McCracken, a senior editor at The Gospel Coalition and author of Uncomfortable "Austin Gohn's A Restless Age is an important read not only for people in their twenties but also those who live with, work with, and mentor them." Vince Burens, President/CEO, CCO "This is a wonderful book. Austin Gohn 'gets' Augustine and then gives Augustine to the twenty-something wondering why life hasn't turned out as expected. A Restless Age is rich in biblical insight, perceptive in cultural analysis, and grounded in truth that goes much deeper than today's headlines." Trevin Wax, Director for Bibles and Reference at LifeWay Christian Resources, author of This Is Our Time: Everyday Myths in Light of the Gospel About the Author Austin Gohn is a pastor at Bellevue Christian Church, where he has worked primarily with young adults over the past seven years. He and his wife Julie, along with their son Levi, reside in Pittsburgh, PA.