Thirst

Day after day, day after day

We stuck, nor breath, nor motion

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean

Water, water every where

And all the boards did shrink

Water, water every where

Nor any drop to drink

THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

A professor mentioned this old poem in class, and I looked it up out of curiosity. Typically, the last two lines are misquoted: "Water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink." Actually, I prefer this slight mistake to the original version. It typifies the experience of faith for most of the world nowadays.

The search for meaning infiltrates media. Show me a TV show that isn't looking for some kind of meaning, and it will be the first I've seen. Even sex-fueled comedies like American Pie make a statement about human interactions, adolescent life, our sex drive, societal pressure, and the encouragement of casual approaches to sex. Films and books tell stories that shape our understanding of the world. Advertising even makes some sort of statement about reality and meaning. What do you think these commercials say?







Meaning, meaning everywhere, and not a drop to drink. Our world is thirsty for meaning yet deprived of meaningful sources from which to seek authenticity and fulfillment.

One of my favorite shows is LOST. After introducing my parents to it over Thanksgiving and Christmas break, I started watching it a second time from the beginning. The main characters, John Locke and Jack Shepherd, represent faith and science. They predictably clash often. Everything in the show revolves around the decisions they make, and the other characters, important as they may be, revolve around the question of primacy between the poles of science and faith.

Isn't that indicative of our world today? It seems no matter how much science can teach us, there is always a need for more meaning, for more explanation and depth. All the questions cannot be answered. And faith does not satisfy our curiosity to explore, to learn, and to know. Tension exists between the two, and meaning can be found in both. What I have discovered in my philosophical studies is that faith and reason needn't contradict each other or be in competition. In fact, one brings light to the other. St. Thomas Aquinas said faith and reason cannot contradict because they are both based on natural law. There are many examples of this.

Mischaracterizations of Catholic teaching and of greater Christianity abound. Do we believe in a literal creation story as portrayed in the Book of Genesis? This is a piece of religious writing best understood as a metaphor. The question is not how God created but why God created. We tell stories and make analogies or metaphors to understand things, and God seems to do the same thing with this and many other parts of Scripture. Consequently, our belief in creation does not deter from the facts of evolution. Do questions remain? Absolutely. But neither faith nor science sufficiently answers the quandaries of origin. Together they fuse a rounded understanding.

One fascinating thing I learned in studying Theology of the Body is is the way our excretion of the "love hormone" oxytocin matches a call to lifelong monogamy and fidelity. Oxytocin causes feelings of bonding and attachment, and it is released during intercourse, childbirth, and breast feeding, three times when bonding is of particular importance. The more sexual partners one has, the less effect oxytocin makes, and less bonding occurs. No wonder our world has a problem with commitment in marriage. Additionally, the chemicals that cause "butterflies" when romance begins (dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline, and vasopressin), not coincidentally, last 3-6 months for romantic relationships in still-developing adolescent brains and 12-18 months in fully-developed adults brains. Generally, the duration of romance is about that long for those age groups, is it not? After the butterflies are gone, something more must remain to sustain the relationship. That's where commitment comes into play. Our bodies are made not for rabid romance and butterflies to last forever but for fidelity that supersedes physical attraction. Science and faith interacting, informing, agreeing. There is meaning when we seek it.

The thirst for meaning is never fully quenched. We search endlessly. Let us begin earnestly seeking wisdom and purpose in their proper dwelling. Let us turn off the television, limit our time on the computer, silence our cell phones, retire the radio, cut the commercials, and feast on the Scripture, silence, prayer, and insight gleaned from a God ever present to all people. Jesus pleads for us to come to the water. May we drink deeply.