Cracks & Spiritual Water

With little rainfall in Texas, we’ve watched the vegetation dry up and die. The parched ground has opened in hunger for water, forming deep cracks that stretch across the earth like silent wounds. Just days ago, I heard a story that has stayed with me, a story about a little puppy and one of those cracks.

A young boy, the puppy’s caretaker, went to check on him and couldn’t find him. As he and his mother searched, they heard faint cries. Kneeling beside a crack in the ground, they realized the puppy had fallen in. They couldn’t rescue him on their own, they had to call for help from those with the tools, the strength, and the knowledge to save him.

That story lingered in my heart. The cracks in the ground were caused by drought, by a lack of water. And the danger they presented to that puppy reminded me of the spiritual cracks that form in our lives when we go without the living water of Christ.

Water is the most valuable substance on earth. More precious than gold, oil, or diamonds. Without it, life cannot survive. And just as our bodies need water, our spirits need living water.

Jesus taught the woman at the well:
“Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4)

I know people, loved ones, who have fallen into spiritual cracks. Their lives have grown dry. Their soil has hardened. And they’ve slipped into places of danger, loneliness, or despair. We do what we can to help, but sometimes it takes others, those with the tools, the strength, and the spiritual insight, to lift them out.

I’ve been in those cracks myself. Sometimes by accident. Sometimes by neglect. I’ve cried out for help, realizing I couldn’t climb out alone. And I’ve learned that crying out matters. That little puppy might not have been rescued if he hadn’t cried.

It doesn’t take much to become spiritually dehydrated. Ground that was healthy yesterday still needs water today. We can’t rely on stored-up spiritual strength from last month or last year. The service we gave, the scriptures we studied, the prayers we offered, they were good, but they aren’t enough to sustain us forever. We must continue to serve, continue to love, continue to grow.

When I think about meeting Jesus one day, I know I can’t say, “I was a good mother when my children were little,” or “I served in callings years ago,” and expect that to be enough. I want to be able to say, “I kept serving. I kept loving. I kept drinking from the well.”

And so, I return to the puppy. He had a shepherd, a little boy who loved him, searched for him, and called for help when he couldn’t save him alone. We all need shepherds. We all need living water. And we all need to be rescued from time to time.

I’m grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because of that, I know:
God is my Father.
I was created in His image.
Christ is His Son.
And through His Atonement, I can return to live with my Father.

Those truths are simple. But they are everything.