Why is it so hard (sometimes) to quench a thirst? In my life I have been very thirsty many times and I imagine you have, too. When I was a young and playing baseball, football and running around the neighborhood constantly, taking care of the thirst was easy - get a drink of water. As I grew older I developed a bad habit of drinking Pepsi, Coke and then later on the diet versions of both. The problem was this - they did not quench my thirst. I would drink several cans per day and always had the feeling that I needed more. The problem - Pepsi and Coke were not designed to quench a thirst, they were meant to taste good. In fact, the more you drink the thirstier you will get because your body uses it's reserve "water" to process the elements in the soda pop.
This is true of the desires (or thirsts) of the human heart, too. Oftentimes in my own life I have felt a strong desire for love - God's love - but I tried to quench that thirst with more TV, more money, more stuff, more, more, more. Of course, none of it ever worked. I work with teens at the local detention center and find that is true in many of their lives. They strongly desired to be loved by a parent and when they don't get it they do all sorts of crazy things to fill that urge. Sex, drugs, video games, violence, bullying, and self harm are just a few of the substitutes these young adults use to fill the void they feel in their heart.
In John's Gospel, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well and tells her that if she "drinks the water that He gives" she will NEVER be thirsty again. WOW! What a declaration. In essence, Jesus is saying "Come to me and receive EXACTLY what your heart is looking for. Stop trying to fill the voids in your life with the 'stuff of earth'".
So, what it is it that you are thirsty for? What do you most desire in life. For many it is love, peace, justice, joy, freedom and the like. Do you think you can find them from your own efforts, from others, or from the government? True love comes from only ONE person and that person is Jesus Christ. In John's First Letter he tells his followers that "God is love". It only follows that if you want love in your life you must unite yourself to the source of that love and watch peace, freedom, joy and justice follow right along.
Dear John:
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. I know for a fact that the government is not the answer as Native Americans have been under this system for a hundred and fifty years or more and are no better off. The system is self sufficiency through hard work, education and experiences in life. This is becoming less a way of life as people now days look to the federal government for the answers to life, guess what they are going to be very disappointed believe me I know. People will continually thirst because there is nothing in life like being able to solve ones own problems. I have thirsted many times in my life and continue to do so because I am constantly trying to learn more and more about my faith, the Church Fathers, God, Christ, and the Saints. This thirst for knowledge is what keeps me going and helps get me through each day of life. It is so sad to see those who stumble through life with no direction, no meaning just going through life and taking it as it comes. Is it a wonder we have so many suicides, and so much crime in this country. We have lost our direction we have lost the connection we had with God and our churches. That is why so many people in society when you look into their eyes have no compassion, and it is as if they have no soul. They are so lost and the answers they are getting from our political leaders is not working. So yes I thirst, I thirst for the truth, my Church and its leaders, and I thirst to learn all I can about my faith.