The Deepest Thirst

The other day, I watched a chipmunk scamper across the driveway followed by another chipmunk in hot pursuit of "catch me if you can." One chipmunk came to a screeching halt. And just on the edge of a puddle, paused, took a few sips of water and took off the rest of the way.  No matter the task, give the critter credit--he stopped for what he need the most--water to live.  Thought I to myself, how often do I stop for what quenches the deepest thirsts of the soul?  Granted you have to first acknowledge that a soul exists and then that it has a thirst.  It needs soul-care.

Look at this pictures.  What do they have in common?  Their lives depend on it.  Of course, one is at the physical level and the other the spiritual.  Needless to say, what happens to the human soul if we scurry around chasing each other like Chip & Dale in hot pursuit and we don't go to the water of life?

The prize winning author, Flannery O'Conner, wrote in A Habit of Being ,that "if the Holy Communion is just a symbol, then I say 'to hell with it.'"  I suppose that the chipmunk would have said the very same thing if it discovered that it was not water but something else.