Living Waters

Hidden Waters    copyright 2011, Caris Cerdwyn, All rights reserved

Someone, in a poem I think, likely Mary Oliver, but I can't quite remember where I read it, was speculating on whether or not water is a living thing.  I like to think about it in quiet moments.  It is obvious that you and I walk around, breathe, eat, sleep, our cells regenerate.  But water, well, that's not quite so clear is it?  It doesn't really have the six characteristics of life, so scientifically, it is not alive.  And perhaps it isn't.  Or perhaps some water is.  There is some water that is so sweet and wonderful and tastes better than anything in the world.  Of course, water is tasteless, right?  Unless it's got sulfur in it.  But I've tasted really sweet water, that feels alive when I drink it.  Much of the bottled water does not taste as though it has any life in it whatsoever.  There's a sort of blankness to it.  I know, I know, this sounds crazy.  But crazy as it may sound, I would bet that you have tasted water that has a sort of dead quality to it.   And water that tastes wonderfully alive. 

The scriptural references to water are many.  This week's lectionary has the passage about the water in the wilderness...of Moses striking a rock and water beginning to flow.  And there is the passage where Jesus tells the woman at the well he would give her living water to drink, and she would never thirst again.  And there is the scripture in the psalms which says:  "Like a tree that is planted at the water's edge, those who put their trust in God's word will bear fruit in season."    Water is one of those things we need on a daily basis.  Every single day.  Well, we could go three days without it, but it's not a good idea to do so.  Being well hydrated keeps us from getting sick.  It moves the toxins through our system so they don't get stuck some place and cause problems.  I wonder how long it had been for the Israelites before they started to complain?  A few hours?  A day?  Two days?  or were they stretched to their limit?  Had it been much too long since they'd had a drink.  I get their complaints, their fear, their arguments with Moses.  Moses doesn't seem to be very understanding.  Because he was the leader did he perhaps have access to all the things the average Joe did not?  Moses was on the privileged side of things, even though he had his problems too.  But I wonder if he lacked compassion sometimes. 

God provided.  Told Moses to hit the rock in front of the elders so they were witness to the miracle.  And water came gushing out.  So the story goes. 

The trick to having access to living water seems to be connected to the Word.  Study, prayer, meditation conversation, worship...those are the things that pour out new life in us.  Well...having it and not having it are things I've experienced.  When I pay attention and listen up on a regular basis, there is a certain flow.  Sometimes it almost seems as though one becomes part of that living water, streaming down the hillside, flowing toward that immense ocean that is God's very self.