Thirst

Of everywhere I have lived in my life – California, India, Singapore, Oregon, Florida, and England – there is nowhere quite like New York, New York.  The biggest difference is not in the culture, arts, or food.  The difference lies in the size of the community resident which holds a thirst to win.  I am not speaking of a childish “I want it” type of thirst.  I am not even talking of something as intense as the first “I love you”.  In New York I find people willing to sell, give, and sacrifice everything for something they believe in.  The range of passionate pursuit is beyond imagination.  At a very minimum the scope ranges from hedonism to business to music, art, and the stage.  Excellence isn’t something longed for, it’s pursued as if one’s life depends on it!
 
I find it hard to understand this kind of thirst.  I find myself committed to my goals, with limits.  Family, relationships, values and priorities take precedence over arbitrary goals.  Yet the haunting question which hovers on and around me; is this right?  Should there be some pursuits one accepts, nurtures, and in the long run embodies which transcend life itself?  Are some things worth more than the life I know?
 
Before you answer no, what about a relationship with Divinity?  What if it could transcend everything we know in this moment?  What if it was compatible, even better symbiotic, to the life we know?  What then?
 
What would I give up to be in communion with Divinity?  What would I let stand in my way?  What changes would I be willing to make?
 
Divinity is, according to history, willing to do anything to bring us into this place.  In one example the promise was made that “the Master [God] will take the razor rented from across the Euphrates—the king of Assyria no less!—and shave the hair off your heads and genitals, leaving you shamed, exposed, and denuded.  He'll shave off your beards while he's at it.” (Isaiah 7.20)  All and everything for the cause!
 
How thirsty are we?