In Tennessee Williams play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” we encounter the alcoholic anti-hero, Brick Pollitt. Brick was once a football hero with the world at his feet. But in the play, we see him as an broken man who hopelessly lost his way. His liquor provided the only peace from the noise and tumult of life. He describes it as a click that would come after he gets enough drink to settle his nerves. Throughout most of the story, he is simply waiting for “the click” and that momentary ephemeral peace he craves. It seems that there are so many men, who decide life’s not possible without some kind of click, whether it’s through entertainment, sex, beer, or sports. It’s all about numbing the pain and satisfying the constant craving of their soul.
Brick is an archetype of spiritual despair. He’s long since left the hunt for meaning and entered into a state of moral paralysis. He’s mourning the death of a close friend and struggling with the guilt of his own existence. His marriage is lifeless. Everything is circling into a pit of meaninglessness.
No purpose, no passion, no peace… But still a thirst, an unquenchable thirst.
The Samaritan woman Jesus encountered, had the same issue 2000 years earlier. She asked Jesus where she could find this water that could quench the thirst of her soul. She had been on an arduous quest through several marriages and gods. And now the one true God of the universe stared her down and offered her something far greater than a click of peace. He offered her a fountain of living water. We constantly encounter men and women who are going through their day, navigating through life from one click to the next, searching for peace. Jesus went out of his way to offer a soul searcher a fountain of peace that proved far greater than a momentary click. And now Jesus invites us to share this living water also.
This work by Matt Tullos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International