Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” — John 6:35
Jesus tapped human experiences as a way of teaching and of connecting us to a deeper side of life that we may too often ignore. Thirst is one of them. We’ve all had times when we’ve said, “I’m dying for some water!” It’s like everything in your body is crying out for it. And, if you’re a kid playing hard on a hot summer afternoon, you’ll even drink out of a garden hose.
Being thirsty like this came to mind when I opened a Richard Rohr meditation, and read these words from the late Episcopal Bishop Barbara Harris:
My friends, we thirst after many things in this world. We thirst after money, power, prestige, position. We put our trust in them; we may even pray for them. But like our Lord, we are at a crossroads in the church and in society. We still have a choice and the question our Lord is asking us is, “Do we have a thirst for the kingdom?”
What does being thirsty for the kingdom look like? That would be a good spiritual exercise for each of us. It might include some of these things:
Wanting to thank the Creator any way I can for a body that works (mostly), a creation that’s gorgeous each day, and for family, friends, and 8 billion other wondrous fellow humans with amazing abilities.
Wanting to show kindness to people who see darkness around them instead of light.
Wanting to belly-laugh with children who seem to naturally see the world as a playground.
Wanting to make things more just for people who are less prioritized because they’re less powerful.
Wanting to show mercy to those who don’t deserve mercy by the world’s standards.
Wanting to…[fill in the blank]
Jesus of course showed how he quenches thirst when he preached the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) then went ahead and practiced what he preached until he was crucified.
I want to follow Jesus’ teachings and example, not because I should, but because I just have to in order to taste the spring of cool, sweet, water that refreshes like nothing else can.