Monday, January 21, 2013

Thirsting for God

Thirst is one of those human experiences that is universal. From the mightiest king to the lowliest slave, everybody gets thirsty. In a broader sense, we can even apply thirst to other human needs as well. Is not hunger just a thirst for food? Is not exhaustion a thirst for rest?

But there is something in the connotation behind "thirst" that goes deeper than being hungry or tired. When we say "hungry", we could easily be referring to our stomachs rumbling before lunch. "Tired" could mean the sleepy feeling we get in the afternoon.

But "thirst"...thirst is desperate. Thirst is a burning desire.

"I thirst for you like a parched land" - Psalm 143:6

We thirst like a parched land. We're crying out for water in desperate need.

We're thirsty for God.




We all have that deep, deep yearning for God. Often, though, we don't recognize it as such. We recognize that something is missing and we try so hard to find it. We fill the void with food, liquor, sex, drugs, music, people, movies, tv, games, anything. But we're never satisfied.

Does this mean all of those things are bad in and of themselves? Of course not. As I've already discussed, the point of "earthly" things is to direct us to the divine. The problem, then, is when those earthly things become the end as opposed to the mean. We become so focused on the salad and breadsticks that we never notice the meal.

Every one of us, whether we are Catholic or Muslim or Hindu or Atheist or Pastafarian possesses a deep call to find Truth. It is as ingrained in us as the instinct to breathe. Just as animals migrate with the seasons, our lives are a migration back to the God who created us. Like the bird that flies south for the first time, we don't know where we're going and we've never seen it before, but we are nonetheless guided by that instinct.

Song of Songs puts it beautifully by saying "My lover speaks and says to me, 'Arise, my beautiful one, and come! See, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone," (Song of Songs 2:10-11).

As Saint Augustine eloquently said, "My soul is restless until it rests in you." He recognized that the goods of this world are not enough.

Thirst is universal. It is dire. Ignoring thirst means death, and much quicker than any other longing at that. We yearn for God. As the Psalmist says, "As the deer yearns for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God, " (Psalm 42:1-3).

Connect with that yearning today. Recognize that the burning in your blood cannot ever be satiated with the things of this world.

Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.

1 comment:

  1. to be human is to be hungry. Also, I like your links, specially the salad and breadsticks one, cause that's what I thought of too. #samepersonsyndrome.

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