Spring has rapidly given way to summer with its proliferation of activities, meetings, and events. This warmer weather has brought about a quickening in the pace of life; a natural reaction after the quiet indoors of a cold and languorous winter – defined by masks and social distancing. In fact, so connected are we to Nature, that our own accelerated steps are but a mirror image of the release and rebirth of energy into the natural world around us.
And yet, given all this increased activity, with its additional demands and obligations – where do you go when the well runs dry? Looking ahead for a moment, all indications are that it will be a long, hot summer. But then that can be said of many seasons in our lives. Like the weather, life’s changing circumstances are not ours to dictate. Sometimes we are blessed with a season of quiet and welcome peace; allowing for an opportunity to slow down and smell the roses, as it were. And then, there are those times in life when responsibilities or situations come hurtling so fast, that otherwise calm and capable circuit boards are threatened with overload. Not a comfortable position to be in, but one which happens nonetheless to any and all who are even remotely human. That’s just the way life is on occasion – unpredictable – sometimes more so than we would like to admit. And it is not for us to demand or ask differently. Nature has its own ways of life, which in turn need govern and take precedence over and above our desire for order and control.
So, how do we cope? When there is one request, or obligation too many? Whether it be unasked for, or previously contracted? When responsibilities to family, friends, work, etc., compete with the need to nurture and care for our own selves and souls?!
After all, it is a given (call it an unwritten law of nature) which says we cannot take care of, or see to the needs of those around us, until or unless our own wants have been met, on at least a certain minimal level. You cannot draw water from a dry well. It simply is not there. And to be left thirsty, is inherently unhealthy, which promotes its own set of difficulties.
Over-burdened with demands and obligations, we tend to see ourselves more as functional beings rooted so deeply in routine, as to operate on automatic pilot. Running around in twenty different directions, whether we like it or not. So much is missed this way, and the toll we pay high. Yet today’s culture and society, defines life in that manner, and we have learned to acclimatize – in order to keep up and get along. Who we truly are is lost sight of, subsumed into the expectations of those who people our world. And drought of a personal nature becomes the result.
Watering the lives of those around us; those who depend on, or come to us for love and caring, can sometimes drain the wells of our own nurturance. In order to be full and satisfying, life has to be more than just a mere balance of opposing forces. The inner needs versus the outer demands. Otherwise, we are no good to anyone, least of all ourselves.
The wells of our souls require filling in a manner which will allow for a steady stream of rejuvenation and refreshment. We need to be aware – and listen – to the signal from within which indicates replenishment is necessary. When our individual resources are low, it is natural to turn to God, praying for help or strength. Yet, if you cannot hear the sound of your own voice in quest for consideration, how then can you expect to hear God’s voice in answer?
And He does answer – always. It’s just, sometimes the ear cannot hear, nor the mind acknowledge. Absorbed as we are in the routines which define and frame our lives, it’s so easy to become deaf to the calls of both our heart, and that of our Lord.
The importance of listening to ourselves takes on a new and greater urgency. Therein is our true essence revealed – that of flesh and blood, made in God’s own image. As such, we are rooted in the Lord – the very source of living water – not planted in a lifeless desert of routine.
Attuned to the direction and guidance of the heart’s still, small voice, is what allows this living water to flow freely throughout our whole being. Such awareness, this alignment of soul with heart, shows in everything we say or do. It enables God’s love – and our own – to shine clearly in all our obligations and activities, without the threat of inner drought, and its subsequent numbing of our senses. You are worthy of your own care and attention, above and beyond the call of outside demands.
Whatever the circumstance or situation, listen to your heart, for there the Lord indwells, and the Living Water flows… freely and without reservation.
“Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give them
will become in them a spring of living water welling up to eternal life.”
(John 4:13)
