Have any of you noticed how the cracks in the ground are multiplying and getting bigger? At the back of our house there are bare, no-vegetation places that resemble the dustbowl of 1930.
My lungs are probably still paying the price for the ill-advised decision I made last week to use my leaf blower in the dustbowl to collect the shells left behind by our sunflower seed-loving wildlife.
At our house watering has become a daily pastime, and I find myself tending to the plants as if they were quasi- pets…their well-being and care being entrusted to us by the Universe.
Lisa, our manager of the water bill, has noted without glee how much that bill has increased of late. I pass the comments off lightly, saying something vague about it being an investment in our home, the beauty of our space – externally, of course.
But it’s a tenderness about their care that’s also on my mind, in my heart.
The plants that become particularly wilted by about 4pm are the ones that really draw my attention every day.
Several days ago I was thinking, “Since it’s mid-September, shouldn’t we be emerging out of this every-day-imperative to water?”
Upon more reflection about that, it occurred to me that there are no definitive timelines when it comes to nature, and, in this case, their need for water, their thirst for health, balance, and life.
This reminded me of the Gospel story we heard a few moments ago of the Samaritan woman who encounters Jesus at the well.
There are a couple of striking things about this story. I love Jesus speaking about God’s love, things of the spirit, being living water.
These days we can get practically anything we want delivered to our door in a matter of a days just by a few clicks of a computer. These days there are countless ways to attempt to fill our wells and quench our thirst.
Because we’re all thirsty. Like the plants in all of our yards, we are wired to need water, and if we don’t get it, we wilt.
The distractions we bring to our path, things that may look to us like internal thirst-quenching water, will never sustain us.
Last night I was drinking a 7-Up and Lisa asked if I wanted my water glass filled back up. “That’s not water, honey.”
Things that may seem like water will never be. There is no replacing the living water of God’s grace.
In these days, especially when so many of us are down spirited given what’s going on in our nation and our world, we may tend to fill the emptiness of our wells with things that look like water.
A moment of pause can help you be filled again with life-giving water. Quiet time, a walk, self-care, time in nature or some space that settles you, prayer, music, cultivating your talents …
Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks this will get thirsty again and again. But those who drink the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, fountains of endless life.”
And so we must ask ourselves…What do I need? What is empty that needs to be filled? Where am I seeking my water?
I know that one way true living water flows in your life is through us, your church community…
…through the social aspect of friendship, and through the sacred parts such as our shared rituals.
The communion we have together every week is a beautiful example. Today, again, we will have communion, but instead of receiving we will be giving…. giving of our lives, of what is sacred to us through story and a bit of water.
And so we will do that now.
Each of us are invited to come forth and pour a bit of water into our communal bowl. The first bit of water shared with be that from our water communion last year.
By blending this water of our past with water of our present, we create and sustain bonds with our history.
The story that accompanies this water from our congregation’s past year of life is the story of evolution as we have examined our theology and affiliations and have made strides toward finding home.
I invite you up now, to share the water you brought, and to briefly share the sacred story of your water, and how it has helped to quench your spiritual thirst.