thirsty jay

A little earlier, I was brushing my teeth at an outdoor hand basin when I noticed a bird sitting in a tree, a few meters away. It was a jay. After a few moments it flew down from the tree on to the ground and stood looking at me for a while. I was a little surprised because these birds are usually rather shy. They tend to avoid humans. After another minute or so it came even closer. And eventually it hopped to a puddle, a small pool of water that had formed from a dripping pipe, and that explained its behaviour. It was thirsty, thirsty enough to risk coming close to me, in order to drink.

And this, for me, is what our spiritual journey is like. Our own spirit is thirsty, thirsty for growth, thirsty for enlightenment. However, if we are too scared, if we want to stay in our safe comfort zone, that thirst will never be quenched. So it's only when our thirst is great enough, that we take a risk. At that moment, we must quench that thirst within us, and so we move out of our comfort zone, out of that sheltered tree we've been hiding in. And we come out into the open, moving closer to the source of water, the source of our spirituality. And if that thirst is great enough, then we risk all, and plunge into the source come what may.

That is what this thirsty jay was reminding me of, as I brushed my teeth.