Drinking Deeply. Flowing Freely.

Rivers of Living Water

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?
Last Night as I Was Sleeping, Antonio Machado

A LITURGY OF PRAYER FOR PENTECOST

Opening Prayer

Get a glass of water and drink it slowly, gratefully, prayerfully…

1^st Reading

John 7.37-39

On the last day of the festival, the great day, 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; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Reflection

There are myriad metaphors and images for the Spirit and,not surprisingly, many of them elemental: air, fire, water… Meditating on any of these might engage the heart in meaningfully different ways as we consider the action of the Spirit in our lives.

Air: wind, inspiration, breath, freedom, blowing where it will, creating, re-creating, sometimes gentle, sometimes fierce, animating all.

Fire: transformation, purification, illumination, holiness, divine presence, the burning in the belly, tongues of flame.

Water: cleansing, refreshing, healing, flowing, springing forth from the depth, gentle showering, baptising.

Water is the metaphor from this short reading from the gospel of John.

Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.

When the theme of thirst appears, as it does at least once a year in the lectionary, I invariably think of this whimsical poem by the sufi mystic,Hafiz. Despite the repetition from past reflections, here and elsewhere, I can’t resist. After all my years of accompanying others, I know that some of the most important truths are simplest, and that we often try to be more clever than we need to be.

As we approach and celebrate Pentecost, and consider how we ourselves might drink more deeply of the Spirit’s water, I think we begin here.

The poem goes like this.

First the fish has to say
There’s something aint right about this camel ride
And I’m feeling so damn thirsty.

First we have to admit that something aint right: that we are fishes out of water: that we often ride our lives in absurd and impossible ways, slipping off the hump of even our best intentions: that we are out of our element: that we are thirsting for more.

But it’s rather startling to me just how desperately I can cling to the dromedary of self-sufficiency or habit, despite how ridiculously awkward it can feel. It is especially frustrating when what I long for most is to dive into those waters of grace and refreshment. Waters, in fact, of my truest identity and home. The surest way to get myself there is to connect with how really thirsty I am.

That’s all. We need to feel how damn. thirsty. we are!

O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63

And so, that’s my invitation for this week. Take some time to connect with your own thirst. What is it you thirst for in your life? For yourself and for those around you? Try to name it as specifically as you can. To feel it as deeply as you are able. To want it as fully as you dare.

And to join those of us remembering this week the power of that Spirit to quench even our deepest thirst, as we pray:

Come Holy Spirit.
Come Living Water.
Come Rivers of Life
Come Thirst Quenching Stream
Come Holy Spirit

Let us drink deeply from the source and spring that is Love and let those streams flow from our hearts into a thirsty world. Because, that really is the point in the end: that we not just be filled but become ourselves sources of life-giving, overflowing and refreshing waters to those around us.

Ponder. Pray. Practice.

Ponder and pray with your thirst, as above. Take some time to pray for the Spirit and to receive…

Contemplative Corner
for those so inclined

End your time of reflection in silent, wordless prayer. Begin with a prayer of desire: that you might draw from that mysterious, invisible well of the Spirit. Then, slip off your camel and make a dive!

Widening the Circle

This week, I invite you to pray especially for the power of the Spirit to move in and among us: to quench our deepest thirst, and to become in us rivers of living water flowing out into our thirsty world. Name the people and places on your heart today.

A Prayer for Pentecost.

Come, Holy Spirit, fall afresh on us.
Come like living water, refreshing dry and desert places.

Come Holy Spirit, fall afresh on us.
Come fill our minds, our hearts, our every breath.

Come Holy Spirit, fall afresh on us.
Come bringing Love to a thirsty world.

Come Holy Spirit, fall afresh on us.

Poetry

Another perennial favourite.

The Fountain
Denise Levertov

Don’t say, don’t say there is no water
to solace the dryness at our hearts.
I have seen

the fountain springing out of the rock wall
and you drinking there. And I too
before your eyes

found footholds and climbed
to drink the cool water.

The woman of that place, shading her eyes,
frowned as she watched – but not because
she grudged the water,

only because she was waiting
to see we drank our fill and were
refreshed.

Don’t say, don’t say there is no water.
That fountain is there among its scalloped
green and gray stones,

it is still there and always there
with its quiet song and strange power
to spring in us,

up and out through the rock.

Blessing

May we drink deeply.
May we flow freely.

And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore. Amen.

Music:

The first: Come Holy Spirit….
The second: Imagine, long for, be that river flowing through the world…