Comments on: Pentecost. Only those who thirst will drink the living water.

By: helen

helen — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:09:49 +0000

Hi, Natalia! I really loved the above story you shared with us about you and your mom and being so thirsty. It must have been frightening too! Father Seraphim talks so much about being thirsty for God. Just when you did not expect it, relief came for your thirst. And that illustrates how the Holy Spirit also comes to us in ways unexpected and miraculously and so satisfyingly!!! God be with you always.

By: Natalia Arzhantseva

Natalia Arzhantseva — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:41:14 +0000

Deborah, you almost felt saturated with this water together with us then!

Those who share hardships share the benefits!

If we walk slowly but persistanty to God, having as a compass His Holy Commandments & collating the movements of our conscience with it, then even if our steps are unsure, we’ll not deviate sharply from the right route & find the road leading to Heaven.

Ours is – to keep walking.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:51:50 +0000

Wonderful story, Natalia! So descriptive….I was with you every step of the way in my imagination–almost got thirsty reading it!

What a perfect metaphor for how God can work to rid us of our thirst for the sticky, sweet, unhealthy drinks that the world offers and that only make us thirstier. Hours of hiking through the heat in the wilderness does wonders for generating a thirst for the cold, clear pure water from the well of Life!

By: Natalia Arzhantseva

Natalia Arzhantseva — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:06:06 +0000

If a person wants to drink, he can easily substitute the living water with some other drink, and he does not bother that he may want to drink again very soon. It disturbs him, but he is almost sure he can find any water anywhere at hand. What is for him a glass of simply a clear water? He’d better prefer Pepsi or exotic drink…But to get the living water we should really get thirsty. and if a person finds himself in a desert, and he knows he will have to stay there for a long time, walking & struggling for his existance, he will discover that only a glass of this water can saturate his thirst for a long time. The more pure & clean the water is, the more helpful it’ll be for him in his crucial circumstances.
I remember, once when I was a little child, my mother & me went off for a travel down the river, where there were nice nature, banks & sandy beaches. We went along, and covered big distance unnoticeably. We rested a little, but soon we had to return to the pier, from where the ship to the town should have set off at a certain time. We started to walk back to the pier, but it became very hot, and the way was long & tiresome. There was nowhere around (as the place & the surroundings were uninhabited). We had some kvass bottle, but it was warm & too sweet, and the bottle was very small, thus we emptied it a little, which made us ecen more thirsty. We became very weak, and the road ahead was still long, and we were afraid to miss our ship, the last one on that day. We became very sad, our heads were spinning because of the burning sun & heat. and suddenly…we noticed a well. We did not believe our own eyes! Nobody around, no dwellings, and this well – with a bucket to draw the water!!! We approached immidiately & drank this water. I still remember its taste, and how cold it was, and how it sparkled under the sun! It cannot be compared to anything else on the world. Saving, refreshing water…That was real, and that was how really valuable things differ from artificial ones. That was a triumph of priorities. Needless to say that we proceeded forward quickly & soon reached the pier, to which the ship was already coming up…May our merciful God bless us with the chance to know the taste of His living water, and wisdom to find the Truth worth living for!

By: Deborah

Deborah — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:26:41 +0000

Using metaphors, as I am wont to do, I can think of two ways to generate thirst in someone–one is to present them with a beautiful, refreshing drink or the sight and sound of running, splashing and falling water. The other is to give them something very salty or bitter to eat.

For some, the Beauty of the Lord and His Bride, the Church, is enough to generate a thirst for Living Water. For others who have become too blind and deaf to be effected by this, a taste of the bitterness of life may be what it takes to awaken their remaining senses to their need for the water of Life.

For me, it is a combination of both the Beauty and the bitterness that creates in me a perpetual thirst.