God's Thirsty???

Copy a line from your Sept. SBC Choice Reading Selection verbatim in your WNB. Analyze it. Why is it beautiful to you? Expand, adding your curiosity and connections…

What if God told you he needed a drink of water?

In The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom, I read about a group of snobby rich people being grouped together on a huge yacht, only to have it sink and leave them stranded in the Atlantic Ocean on a lifeboat that was too small for their liking. Then, a man washed up to their lifeboat, and when they pulled him on and gave him a chance to speak, he claimed that he was God. It was very interesting to read about, especially since the lifeboat consisted of people from very different walks of life. They all took his words very differently, especially in these lines that caught my attention especially:

“‘Is there any water you can share?’ the man asked.

‘God is thirsty?’ Lambert said, laughing. ‘Great. Anything else?’

‘Perhaps something to eat?’

‘This is foolish,’ Mrs. Laghari grumbled. ‘He’s obviously playing games.’

‘No!’ Nina yelled abruptly, her face contorting like a denied child. ‘Let him talk.’ she spun toward the man. ‘Are you here to save us?’

His voice softened. ‘I can only do that,’ he said, ‘when everyone here believes I am who I say I am.’”

- The Stranger in the Lifeboat, pg. 11

Here, I saw a multitude of reactions, all of which Albom must have included to have the reader observe different perceptions of God in the real, practical world. We first see Lambert cracking jokes at the idea of a god thirsting like a normal man, then Mrs. Laghari responding with anger. After that, though, Nina’s reaction seems to not entirely doubt the man’s claims.

What the man responds with, though, confirms that his image is made in the likeness of Jesus Christ. Biblically, Jesus’s journey to achieving his massive following was simply asking for the population’s faith. Once they truly believed in him, he performed miracles on them–or promised them a place in Heaven. Most commonly both.

This, to me, was a wonderful way to explore the question of people’s questioning of a higher power in today’s world, especially when surrounded by affluence and a decline in religion. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not some fervent advocate for religion to make its comeback. Really, though, a decline in belief in religion isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when the world once revolved around spiritual guidance and fulfillment, Albom’s prompt to the reader to wonder what they, too, believe of the mysterious man in the ocean claiming he is God is curious. It’s interesting to think about, both as an individual and in the lens of society as a whole.