3 Lent Meditation

Lenten Meditation

March 27, 2011

By the Rev. Marguerite Alley

Thirst. Thirst for justice. Thirst for righteousness. Thirst for knowledge. We use the word thirst often in ways that don’t really portray the real human qualities of thirst and its unquenchable quality. We say things like “ I was so thirsty my mouth felt like a desert or like it was stuffed with cotton”. Yet I wonder if very many of us have ever been truly or dangerously thirsty. The body's initial responses to dehydration are thirst to increase water intake along with decreased urine output to try to conserve water. As the level of water loss increases, our mouths get really dry and our tongue swells, we stop producing tears and sweat,  we have muscle cramps, nausea and heart palpitations. Our bodies try to maintain cardiac function and if the amount of fluid in our arteries and veins is decreased, the body tries to compensate for this decrease by increasing the heart rate and making blood vessels constrict to try to maintain blood pressure and blood flow to the vital organs of the body. This coping mechanism begins to fail as the level of dehydration increases. With severe dehydration, confusion and weakness occurs as the brain and other body organs receive less blood. Finally, coma and organ failure, and death eventually will occur if the dehydration remains untreated. We can actually physically die of thirst.

We can also die of thirst in a spiritual way as well. As human beings we are designed to seek meaning and purpose in our lives. It could be said that we “thirst” for these things. We have an innate need to know our place in the universe. We long for understanding and for relationship with the divine. When we don’t have it, we try to fill that void with things like wealth and status, both of which provide only temporary material satisfaction. It is sort of like a sip of water for someone dying of thirst. It may make our mouth feel better for a few minutes, but shortly after we will be just as thirsty because we have not truly satisfied the thirst. For our thirst to be quenched, we need a consistent hydration. We need to drink water often. Spiritually, we need to drink from the well often as well. It might be a bit of work to get the water up from the well, but it is cooler and better tasting water than the surface water.

When we find ourselves in the wilderness often the first thing we panic about is if we don’t have enough water. But instead of searching for the deep wells with the coolest most pure water, we tend to fall into the puddles and lap them up instead. They are more convenient and easier to find and to get to. The problem is, they are often warm and there is never enough water in them. Our thirst is never really assuaged by these temporary stores of water. For our thirst to really be satisfied we need to find and drink from the deepest wells we can find. This is where the best water is.

As we enter the wilderness that is Lent, we thirst for a more personal relationship with Jesus. But to have that relationship, we must understand that we will only meet Jesus at the well. We might see his reflection in a puddle along the way, but if you truly want to meet and have a relationship with him, you will need to find the well, bring a bucket and be prepared to sweat a little to bring the water up and drink.