Back to Basics: What We Thirst For

When I was a kid growing up in the Arizona desert, we used to come in from the heat of the summer and greedily yank sodas from the refrigerator. I remember the intensely sweet taste of the soda as it went down. It tasted SO good!

But as I drained that last delicious drop from the can, something strange happened. You may know exactly what I am talking about. I realized I was far thirstier than before. So I grabbed another can of cola.

No matter how much soda I drank, the thirst increased.

It wasn’t until I guzzled a glass of ice-cold water that I found relief from the thirst.

I think that’s kind of how life works. We all thirst for God. It is a driving desire "written on the human heart." It is part of the human condition, which makes sense when we remember that we were created to experience happiness in communion with the Blessed Trinity in eternity. We were made by God, for God (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 27). 

We may not recognize the true nature of our thirst, but it is there, and it is persistent. Using another analogy: For the person closed to religious experience, the desire for God may be likened to an itch that one cannot scratch. 

Returning to the thirst analogy: If I try to quench my thirst through worldly means I may find temporary relief but end up desperate for true refreshment. The “soda” the world offers simply cannot quench my thirst, no matter how sweet it may taste. If I quench my thirst through communion with God, I experience happiness that is lasting and that finds its perfection in Heaven.

Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in the Gospel of St. John, chapter four. It is one of the scrutinies proclaimed at Lent.

In that story, Jesus tells the woman, in reference to the water of the well at which they converse, “Whoever drinks this water is going to be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst again (cf. John 4:13).”

We can wear ourselves out in seeking refreshment from all sorts of “wells,” but ultimately we will find our thirst only temporarily slaked. Even in the momentary relief, the quenching is illusory.   

What might some of the “wells” of the world be?

Perhaps we seek to quench our thirst from the well of material success. Maybe it is the well of prestige. Or the well of pleasure. Or alcohol or other substances. It could be the well of entertainment, such as television or social media. It could even be religious practice bereft of the devotion that characterizes true religion.

This leads to a very personal reflection and spiritual examination: What are the "wells" I go to for living waters? 

If we are honest, we will see that we all have these wells marked for our use. 

Whatever wells vie for our attention, they threaten to distract us from the true source of living water, Jesus Christ. Only he will quench that terrible thirst, that restless desire that plagues us. Only He will truly refresh the thirsty soul. He offers the living water to us as surely as he offered it to the life-wounded woman at the well.

When we encounter the living Jesus Christ, we may say, along with the woman at the well, “Then sir, give me such water… that I may never thirst and have to come here for water again.”