“Water is something spiritual.” Chuang-tzu
Intro: From her perspective at a bench along the Potomac, Diana observes that “creation still has power even at the river’s edge. Things look different from the ground.” The riparian zone, the place where water touches land, is very important as an ecosystem on the planet. It acts as a natural filter and is necessary for life on earth. [When Diana talks about God, you might want to substitute another word here, like The Divine, or Nature or The Universe.]
What experiences have you had with places where water touches the land? How have these experiences formed you?
“Where Is [and what is] God?” and Water:At the beginning of the Gospel of John, Nicodemus asks Jesus how a person might enter the kingdom of God. Jesus answers, “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” Water here is important not only as an element in ecclesiastical ritual like baptism. Maybe God/the Divine is water as well as spirit.
Water=71% of Earth’s surface, but less than 0.3% of fresh water is in rivers, lakes and streams, where it is easily accessible for human consumption. It’s hard to get to.
Diana relates a story of two young fish who are swimming along and meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” The two young fish swim on, and eventually one says to the other, “What the hell is water?” If water is invisible to the fish, is God/the Divine, as the One in whom we swim, also invisible to us?
How might paying intentional, conscious attention to water help you to be more conscious of the mystery of the eternal/God?
“The Spiritual Quest for Water”: The Old Testament Hebrew creation story in Genesis begins with water. (All religions see water as sacred.) Water is present with the Spirit before creation. The power of water also symbolizes fertility and the spiritual feminine. From water comes life.
The New Testament is set in Israel, the promised land of milk and honey, where the major sources of water, the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee, are settings for much of the narrative of the Gospels. But of equal importance is the underground water supply, the freshwater of deep wells. When Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well meet, he tells her that “the water that I will give will become a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” As they talk, he layers spiritual metaphors for water: liberation, yearning for salvation, hospitality, healing, a source of life, wisdom. He reverses the story in Genesis of Eve’s temptation by the devil who tempted her to eat the forbidden fruit to gain divine knowledge and be cursed. Jesus invites this Samaritan woman to drink God’s water to gain spiritual wisdom and be blessed.
How can we navigate the search for both safe water to drink and the “water of salvation”?
“Healing Wells”: Thereis a neuroscientific connection between water and happiness/well-being. Being surrounded by the color blue promotes a feeling of well-being similar to the effects of dopamine. Nature is medicine; this is an idea now reiterated by modern science. So going to beach is theologically sound.
This is leading us to neuro-conservation: as we understand the influence of the natural world on our emotional well-being, we are motivated to repair our waterways. Wealthy people buy waterfront property and privatize it. Not so wealthy people pay rentals to be in touch with it. Wallace Nicholscalls the human-water connection Blue Mind: “a mildly meditative state characterized by calm, peacefulness, unity, and a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment.” Diana asserts that “water holds deep wisdom; it keeps our ancient memories of our origins and our creaturely dependence. But we forget.”
Where are your healing wells?
“The Threat to Water”:Several threats to our Earth’s water include islands of floating plastic in the ocean, the increasing of droughts in California and the falling water tables, toxins in rivers such as the Potomac, the poisoning of the Indus River by industrialization, deforestation, etc., such that it no longer flows as it once did and is actually reversing itself.
DBB says “The future of water is the human future. And it may be the future of God, too.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
“Let Justice Roll on Like a River”:In the 700s, Amos wrote about a drought and called on the rich to action on behalf of the poor: “ Let justice rolls on like a river!” as God’s presence and care exists in the world. “Knowing God as water is not only about clarity and flow but consists in great part of the muddiness of our own lives, for the river is a territory of doubt and desire.”
“The River of God”: Jesus’s final words in Revelation are “Let everyone who is thirsty come; let everyone who desires take the water of life without price.”
How do these words attributed to Jesus speak to us now?
Grace Episcopal Church 