I’ve been struck by how often the subject of water has been featured in the news lately.
Much of the American Southwest is suffering severe draught conditions. That part of the country has been vulnerable since millions of people moved to the desert expecting the Colorado River to fully supply their needs, but this year is particularly worrisome. Portions of Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Idaho, and California have been designated natural disaster areas by the federal government. In California, reservoirs are half full, grazing pastures are bare, and wildfires are spreading.
Halfway around the world, in the occupied West Bank of Israel, some Palestinian villages get running water only every few days, while Jewish settlements enjoy lush green lawns. The disparity results from the fierce political struggle between two nations sharing the same land. Israel has been slow to adopt water conservation measures, even though the level of its main water supply, the Sea of Galilee, has been dropping for decades. Now, with the population nearing 8 million, water has become so scarce that the government is actually withholding it from some communities so that others may thrive, deepening the bitterness that already exists between Israelis and Palestinians.
West Virginia does not suffer from a shortage of water, but a chemical spill less
Reading about diminished water supplies, whether caused by nature, politics, industry, or a combination of all three, gives me pause. It reminds me how fortunate I am to live in a state where water is abundant. We enjoy many brooks, streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes, and our heavy snowfall saturates the ground. Around here, we’re more apt to complain about heavy snow than worry about a shortage of water. How easy it is to take for granted what others struggle to find.
These recent news stories also make poignant for me the symbol of water in baptism. Christians practice baptism in many different ways. But whether we sprinkle, splash, or dunk those who receive this sign of the New Covenant in Christ, the water symbolizes, not only cleansing and renewal, but also life itself. Our bodies are two-thirds water. Seventy percent of the earth’s surface is covered in water. You can survive three weeks without food, but only three days without water.
Jesus said he came to give us “living water” that becomes a “spring gushing up to eternal life.” He said that those who come to him will never be thirsty. (See John 4:10-14.) Yes, he was speaking metaphorically, but what a powerful metaphor, especially in the dry Jordan Valley where he uttered those words. We need the life Jesus brings like we need water. In other words, we die without it. And as with water, when we take this Christ-life for granted, we lose our gratitude for the abundance that we enjoy.
©2014 by J. Mark Lawson
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