Hunger and Thirst

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:27-40

Hunger and Thirst

I always seem to be wanting more
an gaping hole, a deep ache
a need to be filled crying out
unable to be still with emptiness.

My emptiness and longing
run through me like bad dreams
visions and vistas of parched lands
empty arms and aching hearts.

My heart throbbed with life reaching
for other life for warm arms
aching for shelter peace and tenderness
light in this wilderness.

My wilderness is thirsting in the river
loneliness in the crowd, a sigh escaping
from the thick warm covers
of the soft life I lead.

Lead me Lord to the water
let me taste anew this new life
let me look upon the land
with eyes of hope and promise.

Take me Lord to the table
you set for all of us everyday
help me to cherish the meal
that you prepare for each one.

Take me deep into the darkness
cover me with brush and twigs
hide me in the depth of this forest
we know to be love planted deep.

Lead me Lord from wanting to knowing
from hoping to holding tight
from fretful anxiety to joyful song
and from need of bread to need only of you.