Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Water has that effect on me. I like to sit by a river, lake or pond. Many years ago I sat on an ocean shore and saw the vast horizon of the sea. It seemed to stretch to eternity and my lonely imagination went with it.
Today’s first reading from Ezekiel invites us to reflect on the sacrament of baptism. The gospel describes a scene in Jesus’ life, centuries later, when he came to that very stream which flowed from the temple hill. Already rich with religious history and legend, the bath of Bethesda was a shrine where the sick found assistance, comfort and healing.
I would like to ask someone who knows if there is more water beneath the surface of the land than there is atop it. Southern Indiana lies upon a foundation of soluble limestone. Water flows beneath our feet through miles of hidden caves. Most of these passages, I suppose, are completely full of water and very few have been explored. Some of them may be tall enough for a spelunker to stand; others, no wider than a pencil. There are blind fish swimming there; they feed on whatever nutrition flows from the topsoil into the earth. As I sit on a park bench, I wonder if there are fish, bats, or cave crickets with their long feelers creeping a quarter mile beneath my feet.
The air in southern Indiana, especially in the Ohio River Valley is also dense with water. Many of us suffer Ohio Valley Crud, a perpetual sinus stuffiness. But the humidity is easier on the skin than dry desert air; it nestles with a soft, affectionate embrace.
It’s not hard to see water in the clouds overhead, and there is always at least one body of surface water close by. It may not be safe to drink but the wildlife doesn’t mind. All this water reminds me that I am mostly water. In fact I am pretty much a bag of water with bones to hold me upright.
Jesus was baptized in water. I have to suppose he was as fascinated by water as any child. When it was too cold to wade or swim, the boy found rocks to skip across the surface.
They tell me there is as much water on earth today as there was then. Jesus drank the very water you and I drink today. It passed through his body into the earth, into the clouds, onto the sea and into the clouds again in a continual cycle until we drink it again. Water, heated by the sun and nurtured by the earth, is life for us.
It knows nothing of boundaries; nothing of mine and yours; nothing of sacred and profane. It’s all the same vitality. Saint Francis celebrated water in his Canticle of the Creatures:
Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.
Not even Saint Francis could imagine how useful water would be to 21st century industry. He saw her humility in her willingness to be shaped by whatever vessel contains her. She is precious, of infinitely greater worth than crude oil or refined gasoline. We often forget that in our rush to drive our bony water bags from place to place. Finally, she is pure. In her humility she does absorb all kinds of pollutants, but she is always ready to be purified for our consumption. The sun and winds assist in that all-important project.
It is not hard to see God’s presence in water. Her blessing is surpassed only by the God who has given her to us.
Wade in the water. Wade in the water. Wade in the water, children. Wade in the water. God's gonna trouble the water.
ReplyDeleteStill a very good image of cleansing and being made pure. Water brings peace and calm to a trouble soul.