“The problem with this is, the water won't go away,'' said State emergency management chief Jack Colley of Texas last Thursday (as reported in the NY Times) and they got more rain since then… Such flooding has caused so much damage that President Bush has issued federal disaster declarations for numerous counties in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. At the same time, draught, the lack of water caused firework displays to be cancelled from Georgia to California.
But water or the lack of water is more than just a force of nature to be reckoned with, water is also the source of our lives. Water constitutes around 2/3 of our body. Water is integral to our health & well being. Drink 8 glasses (8 oz cups) of water a day… Water is vital to life here on earth and it plays an important role in creation.
As we heard in our reading from Isaiah, “For thus says the LORD: I will extend prosperity to Jerusalem like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream…” The success of Jerusalem is connected to a river, the wealth of nations to an overflowing stream. Such lavish images of abundant water, of life, remind us of the richness of water, it represents health and vitality. And it is refreshing too; its what we think of on a hot summer day, cooling off by taking a dip at Great Hollow Lake or maybe Lake Zoar, taking a boat ride on Long Island Sound, enjoying a cool glass of water. But there are other images too…
Ruhiira, is an isolated village in the highlands of southwestern Uganda, a place with no electricity, nor running water, where at the bottom of the hill nearby is the village's main water supply: a stagnant, filthy water hole with bugs floating on the surface…
We heard the story of Salva Dut, one of the lost boys of Sudan, who as refugee enter this country in 1996 with the help of an Episcopal church in Rochester, NY. After hearing his father was ill in 2002, he returned to the Sudan and saw his father for the first time in sixteen years. Salva discovered that his father was suffering from worms from unclean water. The doctor told his father not to drink unclean water if he wanted to live. There was no clean water in his village so he moved about a hundred miles away to where he could find clean water. Salva, too, became infected with water-borne parasites during his trip to Sudan.
Such places and stories remind us that we have a precious gift. Clean water. Be it from the tap (from our own wells or from city water) or from the local grocery where we picked up some bottled water, clean fresh water is readily available and abundant…
It reminds me of some verses from Psalm 36 (7-9): How priceless is your love, O God! your people take refuge under the shadow of your wings. They feast upon the abundance of your house; you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the well of life. For with God is the well of life.
And we have that gift…clean fresh water, from the water of life… But it is not an earthly treasure we are to hoard as our own. It is a gift that God wants to freely give to us and for us to pass it on…
Just like Jesus who was baptized with water, so are we baptized in the water of life and the Holy Spirit comes upon us to guide us, and lead us where Jesus calls us to go… Jesus sends out 70 disciples to do his ministry in the countryside. He tells them, “Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.'” We are those 70 today and much more and in our world today we can make a difference and proclaim that indeed the kingdom of God has come near!
On February 20, three runners crossed the Sahara desert. It took 111 days and through 6 countries: from Senegal (Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya) and Egypt. They had traveled over 4,300 miles and fought through injury and extreme fatigue to reach their goal of brining attention and support to the water crisis in Africa through H2O Africa. H20 Africa is a Clean Water initiative with their call to action: “You can make a difference in Africa. Clean water can transform a life, and transform a community.”
And we know that lives can be transformed…
[Pictures from the Sudan, 1989, UNICEF, with thanks to Dr. Lopez]
Fresh Clean water…
Ruhiira – a millennium village, Improving water and sanitation through rainwater harvesting and other water supply technologies (such as de-mineralization and water filtration with charcoal and sand)
Salva Dut started water for Sudan and has put in 7 new wells, bring fresh clean water to thousands of Sudanese…
In NYC, on March 22, NY Tap Water was sold for a $1 a glass, not because the 300 restaurants were trying to make easy money… Thousands of dollars were donated to UNICEF to provide clean drinking water to millions of children in places where they do not have it; it is part of their tap project. As one participant said, “Most of the time I drink this tap water,” says Muhammad Nawaz. “I never get sick with New York City water.” Mr. Nawaz is from Pakistan, where contaminated water is a serious concern…
Why do we do it? Reach out through the MDGs? To give water for life? You bet! Because deep down, we know our faith, our life, our hope, all of it tells us that our lives are connected to God and to each other. As Jesus said in the Gospel of Mark, “For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” And as disciples of Jesus, we live our lives as Jesus lived his life in the world, for we remember that in baptism we are called forth and anointed by God to do good, to do Jesus’ work, in this world today.
Today we bear the name of Christ to the Sudan or Uganda, Colombia or the Philippines, Bridgeport or Monroe, we are called forth to help others see the light of God in the midst of darkness, to taste and see that the Lord is good. For as we taste this clean water this morning, we rejoice in God’s creation and we know that God is at work in this world, and we join God’s effort to help bring life where there is sickness and death, to help proclaim that the Kingdom of God has come near by helping bring clean water to the world! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment