(written in 2003)
It's always encouraging and inspiring for me to listen to somebody's talk based on a biblical passage. I had a good chance to meet Fr. Song Bong-mo who recently visited our Congregation to give a special lecture on a Samaritan woman in preparation for the Advent season. His talks were filled with wisdom, humor, deep understanding, and thoughtful interpretation of the gospel.
In the Gospels according to John, chapter 4 mentions Jesus meeting with the Samaritan woman whose name is unknown. Jesus was so tired from the long journey that he sat straight down by the well at noon. By that time, a Samaritan woman came here to draw water from a jar.
Jesus asked her "give me a drink" even though she didn't expect him to ask like that because of the confrontation between a Jew and a Samaritan. However, Jesus assured her that what he meant was the living and spiritual water that will make nobody thirsty again.
Then, he just pointed out she has had five husbands up to now without blaming her faults. She was surprised to see him know her reality as it is and confessed that he is a prophet. Jesus emphasized those who live and truly worship in spirit and truth will never be thirsty again because his food is to do the will of God.
This face-to-face encounter totally changed the woman into a new person who is willing to go out to proclaim and share the good news with others. Jesus did neither blame nor judge her when he talked about her past mistakes. He just revealed her present situation in the mirror.
It's sometimes a shock to face the reality as it is, but it surely brings about renewal and transformation. Many people in the world, including myself, are so weak and fragile that they easily fall into temptation and make mistakes.
But the point is not the past failures but the present encounter with the spirit of truth which leads us to true freedom, understanding, and compassion. Acceptance and sympathy will heal the inner hurts of modern people who are struggling against various problems and challenges.
Nothing can substitute for spiritual well-being. Sometimes we feel like talking to somebody, spending more time together, and doing something together just for inner joy and consolation.
It is good to share with somebody, but the problem is that this desire often comes from self-satisfaction and ego-centered attachment. Religious people all need some space for solitude and aloofness. After listening to him, I wrote the following poem in appreciation of his talk:
Spiritual
thirst
Nothing
could fill me
wine
women
No matter how many
books
I read all night
long
Anything could
appease
my petty heart.
Being so much
drowsy
because of
spiritlessness
Walking uneasy
steps
out of laziness
Yearning for
something endlessly
but still pushing
away
Pretending with a false show
to do something by
myself
Oh, Lord
please fill my
thirst
with the eternal
living water
which you gave to
Samaritan woman.
Fill me up
with the ever-present spirit of the truth.
Let my heart long
for spiritual thirst.
One day when I
knock
the door of the
Congregation
my pain hidden in every corner disappeared
like the mist
basking in the sunshine.
I have turned
around
and round for a long
while
until I became
desperate
while getting out
of inevitable inertia.
Only after
releasing my spiritual thirst
constantly welling
up from deep
my physical thirst
came to an end.
A flower of hope
bloomed
in the abyss of
despair.
The Korea Times/ Thoughts of the Times/ Dec. 13, 2003
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