the thirst we all have

The water symbol is still being richly revealed in the Lenten scripture.Today is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well.

Christ says to her,"Everyone who drinks this water(the well) will be thirsty again.But whoever drinks the water I give him will never be thirsty;no, the water I give shall become a fountain within him,leaping up to provide eternal life."

Once, at a isolated retreat house in New York in 2005,a woman with grey hair walked a labyrinth.It was a warm summer day, and she was on a week-end retreat to learn about this prayer path.Trusting that the Lord knows her intent, she let go of all thought,all expectation and slowly her feet followed the twists and turns of the grass path,bordered by grey rocks.This thought comes to her,"You have a fountain of goodness in you.Learn how to make it more and how to let it flow."Having little idea what this meant she did understand that the goodness is really god-ness,His works in her that need to be shared.Puzzling this out is not something she can do right now.She must let it sit and trust that the way will become clear.

Two years ago, a friend challenged the seeker to start her own blog and somehow, she did and her first posts assuaged her grief at losing her only sister.As time went on, it became much more than that:a way of sharing her truth;of telling how her life became like the tugboat ,all bright, beautiful colors, with gold and stars surrounding her.A place to convey her deep faith in the Christ who saved her and guides her,a soft,gentle, smiling shepherd with Jim Caviezel's face.

This is what the spiritual life is like.One receives words,living words that are surprising and fathomless and you just go with them until you get it.And sometimes you won't get it in this life but you grab hold,hang on and go on the ride as the water wells up in you and overflows to do its work.