|
Today's Scripture
1 “Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink—
even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk—
it’s all free!
2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
*Isaiah 55.1-2, NLT
"But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
*John 4.14, NLT
37 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
*John 7.37-39, NLT
Wisdom Story
The following account is told by Jon L. Joyce, in his His Hands...
I remember one time I was walking along Times Square in New York, and I passed a little bar that had a sign hanging outside which read: "Come on in. There is never any dull lull in here." Well, that was quite a claim. I thought I ought to investigate, so I went in. What did I see? A picture of human happiness? The customers were sitting along on the bar stools staring at themselves in the bar mirror with obvious distaste. The bartenders were looking back at them with the same expression. If that wasn't a dull lull, then I don't know what a dull lull is. I wonder sometimes with the millions of bar stools in the country whether anyone has ever found happiness on one of them. Our problem is to take life seriously, to be able to believe the primary fact that our lives have meaning and purpose, that there is a reason for living.
Comments
Meaning, for the Christian, is relational and intimate. In Isaiah, God says "Listen to me." In John 4 Jesus speaks of the spiritual water that "I will give." In John 7 he says that the thirsty "may come to me" and of "anyone who believes in me."
The modern renewal of walking the Labyrinth, an ancient prayer path leading into and out from a center circle, symbolizes our yearning for God and our innate knowledge that only in the Sacred do we find the meaning of our lives. The Path of life, in each moment, is meaningful when oriented toward the Sacred.
Reflection
What is the one word that best describes your relationship with the Sacred? Explain.
|
