The Power of Water

A sermon preached at Old South Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Hallowell, Maine, March 26, 2006.

The Rev. Susan M. Reisert, Minister

Text: Genesis 1:1-10

In the summer of 2004, Joe, the kids and I headed off to England. Joe had been offered one of the coveted slots in the Colby, Bates and Bowdoin program in London. He would be teaching there for the fall semester (we were lucky that he got the position when he did, as the program closed just one semester after we were there). So, we left at the end of July, giving us time to travel and to settle in before the semester began.

Since we had not done any major traveling with the kids (most of our vacations were spent visiting family and just enjoying Great Pond), we decided to make this trip really special with lots of traveling once we got to England and trying to live very differently than we live in Central Maine in never renting a car, for instance, and taking buses and trains. We visited castles and museums and churches and cathedrals, among other things. Even the beginning of our trip was unique and special. We decided to take the slow route to Great Britain aboard the Queen Mary 2.

Not only did we spend six glorious days at sea, but by the time we reached Southampton, we had adjusted to the time change and we were well-rested and prepared for our many adventures. One of my favorite moments occurred in the very middle of our passage across the North Atlantic. During the noontime announcement when the Captain and then the Captain’s Assistant would come on the PA system and tell us how far we had traveled in the previous twenty-four hours and how fast we had gone and what the weather was likely to be like and where we were, on this particular day, the Captain’s Assistant boldly declared, “The closest land is two miles away! . . . Straight down!”

There was an almost audible gasp among the lunchtime diners around us as we all contemplated the concept. The closest piece of land was two miles away, straight down—mind-boggling. I remember feeling a sense of elation. This was certainly one of the reasons that I had chosen this method of travel. It was a beautiful day and we were simply surrounded for as far as the eye could see and far beyond that by the sea. I felt great. Even though we shared this moment with a couple of thousand other passengers and a couple of more thousand on the crew, there was something wonderful about that feeling of being so completely in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by water.

On that voyage, we also experienced some rough weather, with waves crashing far up the side of the ship—the angry ocean making its presence known. It was not going to be all calm and peacefulness. Aside from a slight quieasiness, I never felt any concern for our safety or any fear.

Although our several months in Great Britain were full of marvelous adventures, I will never forget our voyage across the North Atlantic and I’m looking forward to doing it again. But, at the same time, as I remember that feeling of peace that I had when we were so completely surrounded by water my mind turns also to those images of horrendous destruction and terror as the waves of the tsunami came crashing along the coastlines in South Asia, not long after we had returned from our time away. And, now also, the images of the devastation in the wake of hurricanes and floods, particularly along the Gulf Coast. My memory of the calm that I felt when surrounded by miles of ocean on all sides is now complicated by the unimaginable ruin—lives lost and property swept away—by water, the same substance that so often brings to me that sense of calm.

Water is a powerful symbol and a powerful reality. Water can bring a calm and a peace of mind, walking along the coast on a beautiful day. Water can also bring remarkable and unimaginable destruction and chaos.

We tend to take the stuff completely for granted. Think for a moment about all the ways in which you use water during an average day or in the normal course of your life. [Pause] Turning on the coffee maker in the morning, brushing your teeth, taking a shower, washing your clothes, running the dishwasher, getting a drink from the tap or from a water fountain, washing your hands pretty much whenever you want to, boiling water for pasta or for tea, washing the kitchen floor (at least, I’ve heard you use water for that!), giving the kids a bath, flushing, carting around one of those plastic bottles—Poland Spring, Dasani or the generic Nalgene bottles full of water from who knows where.

We have come to take for granted that we have easy access to water and, not only that, but clean water. Though the springtime can get a little interesting with often a little more water than we can handle, the damage done is nothing like what others have experienced in floods and tsunamis and other natural disasters.

Water is a powerful symbol and a powerful reality.

We turn on the faucet and there it is—water. And, almost always it is clean and ready to drink or use in whatever fashion we wish—even to waste.

But, of course, our experience is not shared by everyone with whom we share this planet. There are places on this planet where water is scarce and fought over. There are places where the water that is used for bathing and for cleaning, is also the water used for the disposal of waste—human and otherwise. There are places where there is nothing simple about getting a drink or finding the water to clean; the act of gathering water takes a concerted effort, demanding strength of body and will. There are places where fetching water is dangerous; places where even children may be attacked, or even killed, while trying to gather one of the basic necessities of human life.

Water is a powerful symbol and a powerful reality.

1.1 billion people on this planet lack sufficient access to safe drinking water. 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. The average African lives with less than 20 liters of water per day. The average European consumes an average of 150 liters daily and the average North American more than 300 liters daily. [statistics from UNESCO]

Today, we reflect on the very creation of this planet, when the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. The light was separated from the darkness and then God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let us separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And so it was. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Water is a power symbol and a powerful reality. Water is fundamental to our lives—both physically and spiritually. We remember these things this day and we make a small attempt to reach out to those who do not have access to clean water to drink or to prepare food, those who do not have easy access to any water, as well as those whose lives have been torn apart from the powerful destruction of water.

We consider today the fact that water is fundamental to our lives and we respond to offer a gift to bring water to those who thirst. A typical human being could probably survive for thirty to forty days without food, but that same human being probably could not survive longer than a few days without water.

Water is essential for life. Our bodies are made up of 70% water. 70 % of the earth’s surface is covered with water. But fresh water is one of the scarcest resources on the planet, accounting for only 2.5 percent of the total volume of water on the Earth, and of that proportion 77 percent is trapped as ice at the poles and in glaciers. [The preceding two paragraphs are from OGHS resources available at www.ucc.org.]

We pause for a moment this morning and reflect on the significance of water, to take a moment to refrain from taking water for granted and to consider how we might be of assistance to those who have experienced so closely the damage that water can do.

Water seems to most of us such a simple commodity. It runs freely through this city and, although it sometimes gets a little closer than we would like, our lives are rarely in such immediate danger as they were for those who were probably enjoying the coastlines of South Asia in that late December when the tsunami hit without warning.

We live in a place where water is a powerful symbol of peace and tranquility. The sunset over a Maine lake or a kayaking trip to see Maine wildlife in action or a stroll along Popham Beach or watching the waves crash on the rocks at Pemiquid Point or even skating on a frozen pond or skiing on snow, these are powerful reminders of the wonder and joy of water. We also live in a place where water is rarely unavailable—whether we need it for the daily living of our lives or using it to fill the font for baptism. Water is amazingly present for us. So, we don’t often think about what it would be like if it were not so.

Water is a powerful symbol and a powerful reality. Water is also a gift from God. Think about the ways that water sustains your life and all life. Think about the ways in which water brings you happiness. Think also about the ways in which we are called to reach out to those who thirst, those whose bodies thirst for clean water as well as those who thirst in spirit. Then, let us consider today and reflect in a new way the prayer we use during the sacrament of baptism, that it may bring new light to us as we continue to walk with God and to seek ways to help God’s people. Let us pray:

“We thank you, God, for the gift of creation. … Before the world had shape and form, your Spirit moved over the waters. Out of the waters of the deep, you formed the firmament and brought forth the earth to sustain all life. In the time of Noah, you washed the earth with the waters of the flood and your ark of salvation bore a new beginning.

In the time of Moses your people passed through the waters from slavery to freedom and

crossed the flowing Jordan to enter the promised land. In the fullness of time, you sent Jesus Christ who was nurtured in the water of Mary’s womb. Jesus was baptized by John in the water of the Jordan, became living water to a woman at the Samaritan well,

washed the feet of the disciples, and sent them forth to baptize all the nations by water and the Holy Spirit….” Amen.