Do You Want to Know What Your Soul is Craving?

My own cup from the practice below

​A young chaplain, exhausted and frazzled by her job in a busy hospital during this time of COVID and tending to her own young family, met with me online.  She wanted to know why she simply could not do the self-care things that she encouraged others to do, especially during a time when she really needed them. 

I said, “Well, there were times when Jesus was exhausted, too.  So if he was, you will be, too.  And your soul probably doesn’t want anything else to do!  Want some help in discovering what it wants instead?”
 
Experiencing relief simply by being reminded that Jesus experienced exhaustion but also intrigued, she said yes and I had her go get a piece of paper and a pen. 

There’s a simple practice I developed for a silent retreat years ago that I still revisit with those in leadership or caregiving positions whether inside or outside the church.  A cup or glass and a Sharpie are also an option but a journal and pen were easier for her.  Note: You might want to stop reading and grab paper and pen, too!
 
Then I walked her through these 3 Steps for Discovering Your Soul's Thirst:

1. Draw a simple, but large cup on the page.
2. Write down everything you are offering thirsty people.  What are people coming to you seeking?  Whether people at work, strangers, friends, or family, why do they come to you?  List both the tangible, what you do (i.e. organization, retreats, teaching, etc.) and intangible, what your presence offers (i.e. permission, unconditional love, playfulness, etc.).
3. Now look at your cup.  Chances are, what you’re offering thirsty people is what your own soul needs.  Circle 1-3 words that are really sticking out to you. Reflect and pray with these.  

 
She was surprised.  First, by how quickly her cup filled up (she didn’t think she offered that much!) and more importantly, what she circled had nothing to do with another thing to do!  Instead of another item on her to do list, her soul was craving the gifts of “presence” and “being seen.”  This led to reflecting on her week and a guided prayer with Jesus. 
 
“Where have you been invited into or even experienced ‘presence’ and ‘being seen’ this week?” I asked her.  She quickly realized that it was not in her times of trying hard to do self-care or connect to God during a formal service or quiet-time, but an out-of-the-spotlight interaction with two people in a hospital room had brought a deep feeling of connection, presence, and being seen.  It was a holy moment being offered to her to savor once more.
 
After a few moments, I asked her if she was interested in meeting with Jesus by the well that she’s been passing out cups of Living Water beside.  She said “yes” and we moved into a time of guided prayer based on an interaction at a well between a Samaritan woman and the Jewish Jesus as described in John 4:4-10.  When walking groups through this prayer, I offer a little more context that I didn’t need to do with the chaplain but will briefly offer here.    
 
In the story we discover that Jesus is physically tired and thirsty.  The Samaritan woman is spiritually tired and thirsty, though she hasn’t admitted it yet.  He asks her, a woman and enemy of the Jews, to help him with his physical thirst, later saying he can help with her spiritual thirst. 
 
He begins with his own vulnerability, his own parched soul. 
In so doing he reveals himself as a Friend of her Soul and promises he can give her Living Water that can become a wellspring within her, deep and lasting.  She can draw from it at any time.   
 
This same promise is offered to our thirsty souls today.  We don't have to wait for another time in the future, we don’t have to wait until chaos or external need subsides.
 
Jesus is already waiting at the well, in the heat of the day. 
 
He begins with his own thirst which offers an invitation for another to be honest about hers. 
 
When we pause from passing out cups in Jesus' Name, we can hear with the Samaritan woman His words, “If you only knew what God is offering...you would have been the one to ask for a drink, and he would have given you living water.” 
 
Shall we ask for a drink? 
 
As you close your eyes, imagine the well you've been passing out cups of water beside.  It may be a literal well or a metaphorical one, like your place of work.  Whichever it is, you find Jesus waiting for you there.  You might greet Jesus and allow him to greet you.  Take in the scene with all of your senses (what do you see, hear, smell, taste, touch?).  
 
Be there a while and become aware of your thirst.  What does your soul thirst for in this moment?  You may have circled it on your cup.

Trust, be curious, remembering that Jesus is a Friend of your Soul.  Ask him for a drink of this water he's offering that deeply renews and restores.
 
What is Jesus' response?  Perhaps he offers a word, action, expression, instruction, or maybe he simply wants to be there with you...
 
Allow the scene to unfold.  You might continue a conversation like the Samaritan woman did or take a refreshing drink, or simply rest there, whatever your soul needs at this time.  Be there with Jesus, drink deeply.  I'll close with a prayer. 
 
(Silence)
 
Says the prophet Isaiah, “Yahweh will always guide you, will satisfy your needs in the scorched land; he will give strength to your bones and you will be like a watered garden, like a flowing spring whose waters never run dry.”  Says Jesus, “The water I shall give you will become in you a spring of water, welling up for eternal life.”
 
Friend of Our Soul, may we drink deeply and discover within our own lives the ways you invite us to care for our souls even as we care for the souls of others.  Amen.
 
________
At the end of our time, the young chaplain, calm and with a smile on her face, said, “Just what I needed.  I’m still physically tired but my soul is invigorated.  I can be both.  That feels so good.”  

---