Slaking the unseen thirst

But those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give them will become in them a spring which will provide them with life-giving water and give them eternal life.

(John 4.14)

I mentioned at the first of the year that I would be revisiting this verse from time to time throughout the year. So, it's time for a visit.

The Great Teacher gave a great kernel of truth in this saying. Many say the life-giving water is his message. Some say it is the Comforter he said would stand beside us in life. But there might be something a little more. The "water" from the Teacher would become a spring providing a never-ending life. It seems implied to me that the spring is a never-ending source. It might be important, then, because the never-ending life comes from the never-ending source.

A sort of dilemma arises since there is nothing "never-ending" about us humans' lives on the earth. What would be never-ending in such a world in which everything ends? Something invisible, like the soul, is a usual answer here. That is something we cannot see. So is the never-ending source. The line of logic is that our soul, which is unseen, is fed by a never-ending source, also unseen, which gives a never-ending life, which no one has ever seen. Talk about a leap of faith!

This mysterious water is supposedly more than a symbol in this passage, but you wouldn't call it something tangible. It would, however, allow someone never to be thirsty again, that is, fully satisfied. I don't know if that is true or not by observation. Are followers of the Teacher fully satisfied people? Has their invisible thirst been slaked? I think I should see satisfied followers. His water is enough. The restlessness in the soul should come to an end. I still see a lot of searching by followers. I still see that they shift about for fulfillment on the earth.

I think that if people can handle being satisfied about the unseen, what they should be the most restless about, then I should very definitely see satisfied people handling the tangible matters of life. There is not a thirst.