These words of Jesus speak his deep desire for us, but also speak his call to us to bring about fullness of life for All.
All does not just mean we, human beings, but All of Creation. As David Suzuki says in his Declaration of Interdependence: “We humans are but one of thirty million species weaving the thin layer of life enveloping Earth.” [1]
The care and preservation of life on Earth is the responsibility of every human being. We are creatures with a consciousness, ever awakening, from our ancestral heritage of some four and half billion years ago when life evolved on Earth. We emerged from the oceans, formed joints and lungs and walked upright, just 300,000 years ago. We are from water, we are of water!
Let’s reflect on Water on this World Water Day (22 March 2021)
The planet is suffering. Water is an essential element that gives life to the planet and today we acknowledge and speak our respect and gratitude for Water. We honour Water on this World Water Day.
We human creatures are made up of 65-70% water, and yet as Earth’s population increases and business and agriculture expand excessively, we human creatures in towns and cities just presume that water will be available and will be beneficial for well-being. Our health and inner being is challenged by impure water, industrially polluted, massively medicated and desalinated. Water, especially, here, on the Australian continent, the driest human inhabited continent on Earth, is controlled by government, proprietary rights, storage systems and inappropriate agriculture.
What steps will we take to bring about change in our bodies, our homes, backyards and businesses? We are responding to the invitation to “live life to the full” when we purposely and positively become aware of the damage that we are endorsing in our treatment of water and in our lack of care of this fundamental element of life.
Celebrate and respect Water!
Norman Habel, states that the Scriptures offer an impetus to appreciate anew the mystery and sacredness of water.“Water is a sacrament in creation, an agency through which natural and spiritual power is mediated. We are born of ‘water and the spirit.!’” [4]
We, as followers of Christ, are baptised in Water and the Spirit. We treasure the gift of the Spirit in our lives, but do we acknowledge the gift of Water, crucial in our very being?
What level of consciousness do we bring to our awareness of the gift that water is?
In our care for water, we are encouraged to extend our gratitude to water constantly. In his research, Masaru Emoto, a Japanese scientist, has found that by freezing water and microscopically recording the crystals formed in the ice. This process highlights that the crystals reveal the state of the water. By speaking our gratitude to water, Masaru’s research reveals that the state of water is altered by that gift of our appreciation. Extraordinary crystals are then revealed in the water as it melts. [5]
Fill a glass with water … Declare your love and gratitude to the water, speaking aloud, so that your vibrations and respect are felt by the water. Delight and Enjoy!
Song of the Waters (verses 1 and 4)
Watch once more the windswept rain clouds;
Suddenly the clouds have wings!
God has come to rain among us,
Giving hope to all dry things.
Sing a song of splashing waters,
pulsing through the veins of Earth.
Feel the breath of God move softly,
Gentle mists that brush the skin;
Earth is breathing God’s own spirit,
Life renewed from deep within.
Norman Habel [7]
(Melody: Praise my Soul the King of Heaven)
Kateri Duke rsj
Footnotes:
[1] Suzuki, David, Declaration of Interdependence 1992. The David Suzuki Foundation—One nature
[2] Habel, Norman, Water: A Matter of Life and Death. Interface: Forum for Theology in the World.Vol 14. 2011. Pg 8.
[3] Merrill, Nan C, Psalms for Praying –An Invitation To Wholeness Continuum International Publishing Group Inc. NY. 2007. Pg 227.
[4] Habel, Norman, Water: A Matter of Life and Death. Interface: Forum for Theology in the World.Vol 14. 2011. Pg 8.
[5] Emoto, Masaru, The True Power of Water. Beyond Words Publishing Inc Oregon. 2005. Pg 145.
[6] Emoto, Masaru, The True Power of Water. Beyond Words Publishing Inc Oregon. 2005. Pg 145.
[7] Habel, Norman, Water: A Matter of Life and Death. Interface: Forum for Theology in the World .Vol 14. 2011. Pg 129.
Artworks by Kateri Duke rsj. Used with permission.