Artesian Well

In 1126, a well was drilled in the province of Artois in north-west France.  Free-flowing water poured out of the ground. In later centuries similar wells across Europe came to be known as wells of Artois, or 'artesian wells'. An artesian well is one where underground pressure on a source of water causes the water to rise above the ground. No pumping is required to draw the water out of the ground.

In his book Simply Christian NT Wright describes a similar phenomenon - a hidden spring that bubbles up irrepressibly within human hearts and human societies, the deep subterranean yearning we call spirituality.

In our day, many people are wary of the religious expression of this impulse, but we cannot deny the indefinable thirst, the longing for springs of living refreshing water to bathe in, delight in and drink to the full.

Wright says that this deep spring of spirituality is strong evidence, along with our instinctive quest for justice, our craving to connect in relationship and our yearning for beauty, that we are made for something more than just physical existence.

Jeremiah and other writers in the Bible assert that God is the ultimate Spring of Living Water for which our souls thirst.

God is the unique source and satisfaction of our deepest need - the love and dignity, the belonging and beauty, the mercy and music and purpose. Jeremiah noted that his society had by-and-large forsaken this most exquisite wellspring of joy, empowerment and life that they craved.

"My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me, the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Jeremiah 2:13

The invention of waterproof mortar during the Bronze Age, allowed cisterns to retain their water much longer than otherwise possible. Cracked and broken cisterns were no doubt the result of local seismic shocks which shattered the limestone so that the water stored for the emergency of summer drought leaked out.

Why would anyone abandon a fresh-water spring for stale-water cisterns that require laborious effort to dig and which ultimately leak badly? Ironically, though, it’s a choice people commonly make.

Some of us deliberately avoid God; for others it may be simple neglect, assuming life will work fine without God – or without very much of God. But inevitably we have to satisfy our thirst one way or another. And every substitute god only disappoints.

Irrepressible God, Artesian-well of Life,
Why do other things so easily seduce me? You are the Source of my deepest Joy, you are the lifter of my head; you crown me with dignity and honor. Forgive me for grasping after straw when you provide sterling. Let me drink deep your promise never to abandon me; let me bathe in the fountain of your forgiveness and love; let me delight in your refreshing truth and joy. Amen.

Graphic Source:  ScienceClassBlogs