Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God….
Water.
Growing
up near Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, and later living for a time on the shores of Lake
Superior, I understand how water forms who we are and how we interpret and live
in the world.
These
waters taught me lessons on: beauty, power, the seen and unseen, inter-relationship,
leisure, work, family, resilience, life, death, and so much more. These waters
travel with me: I can hear the cracking ice flows, feel the fridged water, smell
the air off the waves, and remember the sense a storm moving across the waters.
My
time living on the Atlantic Ocean and meeting those who grew up on the ocean,
it too engulfs people and teaches lessons.
It
is no wonder that WATER takes centre stage in the faith stories of the Bible.
What
is your favourite Bible passage that involves water?
What
lesson(s) does this water teach? What do you learn from the story?
What
is God’s relationship to the water?
The Revelation passage uses the phrase 'water of life.' What does 'water of life' mean to you?
There
are so many stories to choose from: water in creation’s story (Genesis 1), Noah
and the flood (Genesis 7-8), the crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 14), water from
the rock in the desert (Numbers 20); or perhaps Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan
River, one of Jesus’ adventures on the Sea of Galilee, the conversation at the
well with a woman about living water (John 4)…
Beyond
scripture, WATER takes centre stage in Christian community, framing who we are
and how we interpret and live in the world. Initiation into the family is
through the sacrament of baptism where we hear the words that through water God
gives us a new birth into a living hope. Coming through the waters symbolizes a
drowning and death to self, and a rising with Christ, wherein God raises us to
new life.
Years
ago, the phrase ‘walking wet’ was coined, to refer to living as a baptized person.
The waters of baptism teach lessons and as we grow in baptism (baptismal promises)
these lessons are applied to everyday life.
What
lessons do the waters of baptism teach?
Do
you ‘walk wet’? What does this mean?
How does God’s river of life, flow through you?
Do you water the world around you?
O
God, you are the Ocean, sustaining this earth;
O
God, you are the River, saving us from death;
O
God, you are the Fountain, granting us health and well-being.
---“Thanksgiving at the Font” pg 59: from “All Creation Sings,” Augsburg Fortress, 2020
We
give thanks for the gift of water!
Water
of Life, in you we are washed and nourished. Filled to overflowing with your
grace, let streams of your holy water flow through us for the healing of the
world. Amen.
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