A Beautiful Thirst (Daily Meditations For the Parched Soul Book 5)

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A few years ago, I painted a picture that I entitled ‘A Beautiful Thirst.’ Intended to portray a songwriter as he journeys toward a source of inspiration, it hangs above my desk even as I write these words. In the foreground of the painting, a bucket dangles from a hand-crank over an old stone well; musical symbols are engraved in the mortared rocks of the well’s circular base. In the background, a man with a walking-stick approaches the structure under the light of the stars and a full moon. Musical imagery aside, the painting is a reminder that at some time in our lives, all of us will be compelled to engage in some kind of quest.

The ‘seekers’ on some of the following pages include an auto mechanic, an impoverished young artist and a homeless man, as well as an insecure boyfriend, an elderly maven on her deathbed, and a young musician creatively inspired by the girl he plans to marry. While some of these people are striving to align their lives with spiritual principles or are in pursuit of an artistic vision, others are going after worthy things but in a misguided way. Still others have followed the false gods of wealth and power or have given up on their dreams altogether.

Anyone who knows what it’s like to ‘be on fire’ for something will be able to relate to the characters depicted in this book, and will also discover things to contemplate as they set about quenching their own ‘beautiful thirst.’

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Doing Your Best at This Moment Puts You in the Best Place for the Next Moment. - Oprah

When I was about nine years old, my best friend was a daring, exuberant boy named Raymond. We liked to do a lot of things, but what we liked to do the most was climb trees - and the taller, the better. Lurching up the rugged trunks as agile as frolicking squirrels, surrounded by the deafening buzz of cicadas, we ascended through levels of sun-dappled leaves until we could go no further. There seemed to be something innate within us that craved elevation…and the rush of attaining an ever- higher altitude.

Looking back, I can see that even though we were only a couple of kids engaged in play, there were deeper lessons we were absorbing. We learned to test the twisting, swaying limbs before we trusted them to bear our weight - because stepping out on a weak or a worm-eaten one could result in serious injury or worse. We learned that sometimes, a risky stretch would be required before we could grab onto the next suitable hand-hold. And we found that when we reached the thinnest, top-most branches of the tree, we would be rewarded not only by a wider view of our world, but by a stronger sense of self-confidence. It felt good to look down through the staggered network of tree-limbs, knowing that we’d come as far as we had because of a series of decisions that were both wise and brave.