Godly Hedonism by St. Augustine
"...by spurning earthly happiness I would clear in my life to search for
wisdom; yet even to seek it, let alone find it, would have been more
rewarding than discovery of treasure or possession of all this world's
kingdoms, or having every bodily pleasure at my beck and call."

"But what am I loving when I love You? Not beauty of body nor
transient grace, not this fair light which is now so friendly to my
eyes, not melodious song in all its lovely harmonies, not the sweet
fragrance of flowers or ointments or spices, not manna or honey,
not limbs that draw me to carnal embrace: none of these do I love
when I love my God. And yet I do love a kind of light, a kind of voice,
a certain fragrance, food and embrace, when I love my God: a light,
voice, fragrance food and embrace for my inmost self, where some-
thing limited to no place shines into my mind, where something not
snatched away by passing time sings for me, where something no
breath blows away yields to me it scent, where there is savor
undiminished by famished eating, and where I am clasped in a union
from which no satiety can tear me away. This is what I love, when I
love my God."

click here for a great message on Augustine's life and thought by
John Piper.