Barneyisfat

It feels like I've been too busy to post lately.

When I was in training for this position - we spoke a lot about self-care and boundaries.  I'm glad that I grew up hearing "do as I say and not as I do" because during training we did not practice - and we were not permitted to practice!- self-care and boundaries.

It's funny.  In different Christian circles the idea of self-care is treated differently.  Some consider the selfishness of taking time for yourself as a sin.  Others feel that it is a spiritual discipline to shut out everything else and to take care of your soul.

I used to feel very guilty when I would prioritize my rest over the needs of others.  It took me a long time to realize that I really can't serve others if I'm not well rested or at least running on adrenaline.  What can be poured out of a dry cup?

I was re-reading the familiar story of Jesus offering living water to the woman at the well.  What struck me this day was the idea of thirst.  They will never be thirsty again.  I'm never thirsty - well, at least not for long.

It would take a long and unpleasant cascade of events for me to remain thirsty for any period of time.  I cannot be thirsty at home where I have running water (usually!) or in the streets where my money will purchase bottled water.  My brief moments of thirst have been in situations where stores are far-removed from the side-street I have found myself on in hot summer months.  On vacation in foreign cities or walking along back roads to get places that sound more promising than they are.

I never find myself in a place of great thirst.  But - Jesus was speaking to a woman who belonged to a group of people who knew thirst intimately.  This was their life.  Their very existence hinged on aquiring enough water to provide for themselves and their animals.  For desert dwelling people - thirst is often a way of life.

This promise of never being thirsty again gets an extra punch in this context.  In our eyes, thirst is an occasional annoyance.  To this woman thirst was an all consuming fire that filled her throat, stomach, eyes, and muscles.  The promise of no more thirst was a promise of unimaginable goodness.

I think that the only ones who can truly appreciate this story are those who have faced a serious addiction. [Disclaimer: I am not encouraging anyone to get a serious addicition in order to understand the Bible!]  Those who understand the enveloping thirst of wanting something so badly that they would kill for it understand the joy of the promise of water which would quench and satisfy the thirst.

I think that many people know spiritual thirst.  Some people know that pain in the pit of their stomach - that sense of despair and hopelessness.   But, just as often it materializes in not feeling anything.  Empathy is spiritual thirst without the knowledge of what thirst is. If you believe the pop-science we are all chronically dehydrated.  We don't get enough water and what fluid we get is often sugary caffeine flavored water.  Our bodies don't even know how to tell us that they are thirsty anymore.

It's the same with our spiritual thirst.  My generation is so thirsty, but most people can't even associate their feelings with what they actually need.

We are a thirsty people - our thirst is killing us - and yet we do not know our need for the living water.