While Jesus was standing there, he cried out,
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,
and let the one who believes in me drink.
As the scripture has said,
‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ”
Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive …
John 7:37b-39a
Water is a powerful symbolic image. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus uses water as a symbol for the Spirit of God. I am drawn to Water as a symbol of the Spirit of God drawing different and diversely-gifted people together to form the Body of Christ.
In his book,
Steams of Living Water, Richard Foster inspires a beautiful vision of wholeness in the spiritual life. Using the imagery of water, he articulates six great “Traditions” or ways of living which manifest the spiritual life. He calls them streams and urges one to imagine them flowing together into a mighty river. He says “in our day God is bringing together a mighty Mississippi of the Spirit.” It would be easy to race through the book with a mind to label the boxes we put one another in with yet another name which would only serve to keep us drinking the water in our own stream. However, Foster encourages us to slow down and explore each of these great traditions with an open heart and an open mind for each one presents an aspect of Christian living that can holistically enhance not just our own life but the collective life of the Body of Christ where our differences are respected and diverse spiritual disciplines are practiced as a means to an end rather than just an end in and of themselves. How many times have I woken up from a chaotic state of being and asked myself
“Why am I doing this – to what end?”
In longing to answer this universally asked question about the purpose of life, those who float peacefully in the Contemplative Stream might have “becoming one with God” as the desire of their prayer-filled life. Those who swim daily laps faithfully in the Holiness Stream might have “becoming a person of Godly character” as the object of their virtuous life. Those who splash joyfully in the Charismatic Stream might have “becoming supernaturally connected to God” as the target of their spirit-empowered life. Those who fight against the waves in the Social Justice Stream might have “becoming one who sees God in all people” as the aim of their compassionate life. Those who swim underwater with eyes wide open in the Evangelical Stream might have “becoming one who has spiritual understanding of God” as the ambition of their Word-centered life. Those who dive deeply in the Incarnational Stream might have “becoming true to the image of God within oneself” as the aspiration of their sacramental life. Each of these dimensions of the spiritual quest could be freely and forcefully articulated by one through whom the Spirit manifests the presence of God.
However, if we look deeper we can see that even these goals may fall short of the wholeness of a life lived in that mighty Mississippi of the Spirit if one does not drink deeply of the living water in a different stream, at least once in awhile. As human beings driven to the supreme mastery of creation, I believe we can become caught up in the pursuit of one way of being to the exclusion of all others. In some cases this may produce a narrow worldview leading one to believe their way is the only way and sometime to demand that all others follow their way or be swimming in a sea of lost souls! It may even be possible to find this close-minded attitude underneath a thin veneer of tolerance in one who, while not actively opposing it, refuses to engage in any spiritual practice that is unknown, unfamiliar, and/or uncomfortable.
I've been splashing around aimlessly more times than I care to count ... it is truly a deep, dark, dry place to be, for me ... a place where I am drowning in a sea of self-pity and strife within. It is a place where I cannot breath, cannot speak, cannot drink ... fighting to make my way up to the surface in order to keep from drowning in my excruciating thirst for God ... again the question cries out in my soul,
“Why am I doing this – to what end?”
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you
and who you are speaking to, you would ask me,
and I would give you living water ...
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 4:10 and 14
