Thirst...Mary Oliver

"Thirst" by Mary Oliver

Another morning and I wake with thirst
for the goodness I do not have. I walk
out to the pond and all the way God has
given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord,
I was never a quick scholar but sulked
and hunched over my books past the hour
and the bell; grant me, in your mercy,
a little more time. Love for the earth
and love for you are having such a long
conversation in my heart. Who knows what
will finally happen or where I will be sent,
yet already I have given a great many things
away, expecting to be told to pack nothing,
except the prayers which, with this thirst,
I am slowy learning.

— Mary Oliver, Thirst

Thirst..quotes from Goodreads..
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/42104-thirst-poems

Mary Oliver on Time, Concentration...Brain Pickings
https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/10/12/mary-oliver-upstream-creativity-power-time/

Rupert Spira: God is the Very Self of Each of Us  (Excellent!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQWIcYbtsEc&fbclid=IwAR0GRL9XpEG9t2B76xTtQVx3sdhC_XrsT8qwQA-F-BSr5WgKPebhGGT6e7k

Rupert Spira:  Exploration in Non=duality for Painters (Cezanne, and Rupert's bowls to words)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30_eqE_5CuA

"Suffering is to the mind what pain is to the body. When you put your hand in the fire, you experience pain. The pain is not a mistake, it’s not something that’s wrong. The pain is the intelligence of the body, telling you: take your hand out of the fire. So pain is working on behalf of your wellbeing. Suffering is exactly the same at the level of the mind. It is cooperating with your desire for happiness. It’s telling you, you’ve got your hand in the fire. In this case suffering is telling you: You have mistaken yourself for a seperate limited awareness. Take a look. That’s what suffering is. It’s a wakeup call. It’s saying: You have mistaken yourself for an object, a limited self. Have another look!"
~~Rupert Spira

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Wild Geese
Mary Oliver