Description

John Dunne wrote about some early Spanish sailors who reached the continent of South America after an arduous voyage. The fleet sailed into the headwaters of the Amazon, an expanse of water so wide the sailors thought they were still at sea. It never occurred to them to drink the water, since they expected it to be salt water, and as a result some of these sailors died of thirst. That scene of men dying of thirst even as their ships floated on the world’s largest source of fresh water is in many ways a metaphor for our age. Is it possible that many people starve to death spiritually while all around us are the footprints of God and rumors of transcendence in places we never thought of looking? And that if we lived with more awareness of the divine, the eyes of our hearts open to those mysteries and wonders, we might experience God in meaningful and life transforming ways? Before we explore how it might be possible to encounter God more often in our lives, it would be helpful to acknowledge the various obstacles that exist to that experience.