The Discipline of Spiritual Thirst

This is the final discipline on my list of 'Ten Disciplines for living downstream from Eden' - a proposal for a personal and global water ethic - or what I call a 'Manifesto for Action' at the end of my book.

Eight hundred million people in our world suffer with severe water scarcity; their need is physical and very real. Often, the water they do collect serves them badly and makes them chronically sick. Click here for a short but powerful 3-minute video from Charity: Water that tells this story.

Physical thirst is a painful but eloquent mirror to us of the spiritual thirst deep in human souls and human communities – a thirst and a soul-sickness found not only in drought-stricken deserts and ghettos, but in affluent suburbs and tropical resorts as well.

The Discipline of Repentance and Renewal

Here is #9 of my "Ten Disciplines for Living Downstream from Eden" –

The Discipline of Repentance and Renewal

A young man from Pakistan sat down beside me on a plane last night. Intelligent and interested in talking, he had serious questions about the Christian faith. He is very convinced and serious about his own faith which requires him today to fast from sunrise to sunset.

We discussed the month-long ritual of Ramadan which begins today. My friend explained that for him it is a kind of personal jihad against pride and selfishness, a public recognition that we are all sinners and a spiritual discipline designed to help him become a better person.