The Widsom of Water

One of the most important symbols in Christianity is water. First, it is a vital necessity,for life sustenance as well as its cleansing properties .Symbolically, it shares properties of the Holy Spirit - flowing, omnipresent - yet difficult to come by in dry times.  It chiefly appears in church life through baptism, and it is used in purification ceremonies, in christening rituals, in washing feet.  

Water is unique in the universe and is a substance science uses as an indicator for the presence of life in the search for extraterrestrial life. So in all its variety of ways in which it is found it contains wisdom - wisdom that binds and connects us 

I invite my readers to meditate on all the ways water connects humans and the planet. A few thoughts to get you started:

• Whose mom never said, "Wash your hands"?  (You hear her voice don't you?!)
• Hydroelectric power that provides electricity to run our lives -heating and cooling, cooking... 
• Every source of food must have water. (Food shared around common tables.)
• How filthy (and stinky!) would life be without it?

Last weekend a horribly tragic disaster involving water struck Kerr County, Texas with 300+ missing or killed in a massive flash flood. While water has vast powers to hold life together, like most other extreme powers (fusion, fission, electricity, violence, God?), it has a "dark side" that can reset all that has gone before. 

Scripture, particularly the Old Testament, supplies a regular reminder about "having fear of the Lord." "Fear" in the time of King James English meant "respect."  In the human experience of life and death, powers that end life receive special warnings and admonish respect, or even reverence.  There is no answer to the inevitable question of why except to say because it can rip life to its most basic elements - carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen - 3 elements that are the beginning and ending of creation. 

Herein is the tangible lesson present in the wisdom of water: respect what can give or take away life. Value the positive powers it has to make life not just convenient but possible.  At the same time cherish (respect) the inevitability that all life surrenders to the elements, elements that God uses to remake New Life.