Lee Atwater was a well-known figure in U.S. politics. He engineered the successful 1988 presidential campaign of George H.W. Bush and was the head of the Republican National Committee (1988-10991). But in the midst of all his activities he developed an inoperable brain tumour and died at the age of 40.
During his illness, Atwater came to realise that wealth, honour and power are not life’s supreme values. Admitting to a deep emptiness within himself, he urged people to work at filling up the “spiritual vacuum in American society.” In an insightful comment, he confessed, “My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what is missing in me—-a little heart, a lot of brotherhood.”
In his day, Jeremiah perceived that same kind of vacuum in many of his fellow Israelites. He warned them against the danger of personal and national emptiness. They were digging cisterns, he said, “broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2 v 13).
Are we spiritually dried? Then ask Jesus, the fountain of living water (John 7 v 37), to fill us with His presence. Then joy and peace will begin to bubble up and even overflow.”
During lockdown I seem to have been “spring cleaning” all the time. Like lots of others our cupboards have probably never been tidier. How often do you come across something which is cracked or broken? What do you do with it? I know I bin it, especially if it’s a piece of crockery. It’s easy to just get rid of it, but it’s not so easy to get rid of something in our Spiritual lives that is broken or cracked.
When we are thirsty, we need to stoop down and drink the “living water” which is freely given to all.