Thirst for God

Psalm 63 is like an anthropological study that provides a clear picture in which one can discover the transcendental and fundamental structure of the human heart. It is difficult to find poetic figures who will express, in such graphic and strong terms, what the psalmist understands as a thirst for God.

“God, you are my God, I pine for you; my heart thirsts for you, my body longs for you, like a land parched, dreary and waterless.”

In the beginning, God placed a seed of His own self in the human soil: He created it to His own liking, according to His own “structure;” It was made by Him and for Him. Whenever the human heart attempts to focus itself on creatures, in whose image one is not made, one is going to feel disjointed and one’s bones are going to creak. Moreover, as Saint Augustine says, man is going to be disquieted and restless, until he affirms himself once more by resting in God.

This thirst or divine sensitivity is invincible in many people; in others, strong, and in others, weak, according to the gift received. We also find people who have not received even a degree of it. Others -many- have allowed it to atrophy for lack of care and attention or in some, it ends up being extinguished - this occurs most commonly- in the whirlwind of human misfortunes.

This explains the following fact: certain tragic phenomena of the human soul are nothing more than the other side of a thirst for God. Humanity’s dissatisfaction; in all its magnitude and breadth, the tedium of life, the feeling of not knowing why we are here in this world; the feeling of emptiness, the general disenchantment ... all are none other than the other face of the Infinite. 

Unique creature are we human beings, who carries the image of God reflected in the depth of his waters! Moreover, due to this eternal imprint, we are inevitably, instinctive seekers of the Eternal.

Extracted from the book “Psalm for life” by Fr. Ignacio Larrañaga.