Thirst - by Sharon Flood Kasenberg

Thirst:

Go ahead and make my day -
tell me I'm alright.
Some days nothing goes my way;
goals seem out of sight.
Dip a little from your pail,
add it to my pot.
Water me before I fail.
I don't need a lot.

Once my own reserves are back
I'll give you your due.
Anything you seem to lack
I will share with you.
Any water that is shared
comes back by and by -
graced by one who knew you cared
and now will supply.

Feed my soul and I'll feed yours -
that's how it should be.
One small word of praise restores
oh so easily -
all that spills as pails we bear
over roads of strife.
Fill me now, I'll later share;
and thirst is quenched - for life.

Sharon Flood Kasenberg, April 15, 2017

"I thirst" - words from a man dying slowly - and what was he offered? Vinegar.

None of us like to think we'd ever be so cruel, but we all sometimes offer small doses of vinegar to thirsty souls.

Today Christians celebrate the ultimate story of renewal and rebirth. The less religiously inclined are thinking about renewal too as reluctant Spring has finally sprung, and they see grass getting greener and new buds on trees. Those of us who enjoy gardening are thinking a few week ahead to planting season and trying to decide what we'll plant and nurture through this growing season.

We forget sometimes that opportunities to support growth are always around us. We often miss taking advantage of everyday chances to water thirsty souls. Sometimes we offer them a taste of vinegar - even though we know that acrid taste too well ourselves.

Most of us know how it feels to thirst - for company, for praise, for attention and acknowledgement of our contributions. There are dry spells in every life - those seasons where our souls shrivel a bit from lack of care. We may be experiencing discouragement, loneliness, depression, sorrow...there are so many contributors to our innermost thirst. Sometimes resentment or jealousy generate a little vinegar in us; it seems that everyone else has what we want or need. It seems that way - especially when we're focused on our own problems and unable to see how much others struggle.

In the midst of our own thirst we are apt to share our vinegar with poor struggling waifs who might be faring worse. We just don't see how anyone could have the gall to ask anything of us! Can't they see how dry we are? So, if asked for a drop from our seemingly empty bucket we respond with a dab of acid. We have no time, no patience, and sadly no aptitude for compassion at the moment.

When we get over wallowing in our own wiltedness, our focus begins to shift. We begin to see that others are beyond wilted - they're so parched that they just might blow away. Maybe we see that we aren't as dry as we thought. We might even find that we have a little water to share. (Sometimes the very people we forgot to water earlier managed to share a little of whatever got rained on them.)

When our emotional reserves are at their lowest it's easy to think we have next to nothing - a pittance. Still, most of us can manage to scrape together a smile, a hug or a few kind words to someone who might benefit from them far more than we'd ever suspect. It really doesn't take much to water a thirsty soul - a tiny bit of encouragement can move someone a whole lot closer to hope.

Thirst isn't always apparent. Our wilted leaves may look lush and full to others - and the reverse is also true. We really can't tell who needs watering worse - so we should perhaps strive to go through life with the attitude that everyone we meet could benefit from a gentle misting. There is enough kindness to go around. It costs us nothing to be friendly, helpful or thoughtful. If all of us adopted the attitude that we all need a bit of watering, then none of us would ever wither.

I have come to believe that every effort we make to show kindness and build up those around us comes back to us generously increased. I know this as surely as I know that my thoughtless words and deeds inevitably come back to haunt me. Gratitude for those who stand by with a watering can has built over the course of my life, and I've come to see that I have reserves to share more often than not. Nothing fills the well like gratitude.

During this season of new growth, water others liberally from your well - it will fill again. Rain kindness generously on the parched. Sprinkle the dew of encouragement on the dejected. Save the vinegar for pickling something - or picketing something. Even wrath has a purpose - but it should never be spewed on thirsty souls just begging for a sip of water.

Quench thirst, and your thirst will likewise be quenched.