When I was little, I used to have “vowel movements.”

No, that is not a misprint.  I meant what I typed: I used to have vowel movements.

My mom disliked most of the words we use for our bodily eliminatory functions.  So, she taught me to use the expression “bowel movement.”  However, I misheard her, and thought she was saying “vowel movement.”

At that point, the die was cast: I was born to be fascinated with words.  (I was about to write that I am very wordy person, which is also true, I’m afraid.)

As an indication of that fascination with words, I present to you the most recent exhibit: When I used the expression “the die was cast” in the preceding paragraph, I “had to” look up the expression “the die was cast,” to see where it came from.  (Really?  I “had to” to look it up?)  It turns out that the expression is first documented in Suetonius, who used it for Julius Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon, which initiated a civil war in the Roman Republic.

Oh, my, where was I?

Oh, yeah!  The continually satisfying love of God!  Titles are a wonderful way of getting me back on track.

My 3-Minute Retreat (Loyola Press) referred me to Revelation 21:5 this morning.

“And the one sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new!’ And then he said to me, ‘Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.’”  (New Living Translation)

So, of course, this provoked a sort of “vowel movement,” which involved consonants as well.  I looked up Revelation 21:5 in my Greek New Testament.  The phrase “I am making” was, as I thought I remembered, a present tense, which indicates a continual action.  God is constantly making all things new!  Yes!

But I also thought of John 6:35, which emphasizes the need for us to do some things continually.

“Jesus replied, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’” (New Living Translation)

Jesus’ words do not mean that one “who comes to me once” will never hunger; rather it is the one “who keeps coming” who is satisfied.  It isn’t the one “who believes in me once”; it is the “who keeps believing” whose thirst is quenched.

There are times, I suspect, when we all feel as if, “Well I tried God, and it didn’t work for me.”

I don’t mean to be unkind, but I have a question for you (which is also a question for my own heart): SO FREEKIN’ WHAT!!)  Do you really think—do I really think—that experiencing God is such a casual affair?

Well, truth to tell, I do sometimes think that way.  I want God to be a very casual friend with very intimate benefits.  How stupid can I be?  Pretty stupid!

I remember a Zen story that goes something like this:

A young man went to an old teacher, because the young man had heard that the old teacher—despite some unorthodox techniques—really had some worthwhile things to teach casual seekers after enlightenment.

When the “seeker” encountered the old teacher, he was led to the river.  The man thought that the teacher was going to introduce him to some sort of baptism or ablution.

Sure enough, as soon as they waded out in the shallow water a short way, the teacher shoved the man under the water.  The man barely time to catch a breath before his head was under the water.

However, the teacher did not bring him back up quickly.  In fact, the teacher didn’t bring the young man up at all.  He kept holding the seeker’s head under the water.

Finally, the man being “baptized” realized what was going on.  The old man wasn’t baptizing him; the old man was trying to drown him.  He began to struggle, but the old man was surprisingly strong.  Finally, with his last remaining strength, the younger man planted his feet as best he could in the soft mud of the river’s bottom, and thrust upward with all his might.  When he was above water, and the old man let go of him.

After taking a couple of gasping breaths, the young man shouted at the teacher, “You wicked old man!  You tried to drown me!”

The old teacher looked at the young man in the eye, and said calmly, “Young man, when you want to be enlightened as much as you wanted to breathe just now, come back and we’ll talk.”

God loves us all.  I believe that with all my heart.

But I also believe that it is only the diligent seekers who experience that love.

Wanta breathe?