swimming in the Jordan

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A friend recently noticed that the baptismal font in our church was dry. There is a practice in the church of dipping one's fingers in the water of the baptismal font, then making the sign of the cross to remember one's baptism, receiving anew the blessing and grace of God that is eternally present. I had already noticed that the font was dry and intended to add more water so that it was available as an outward and visible sign of that inward and spiritual grace, then I forgot, and I'm glad I did. 

When she noticed the baptismal font was dry I said, "Yes, it's all evaporated...so breathe deeply to breathe in the holy water that is in the air." The four of us standing there in the church all took a deep breath. Then I remembered something I have been taught about the holiness of all water in the world. If you don't already consider all water holy and a precious, living part of our lives, try this on: Because of the way water circulates through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and the way water naturally courses through aquifers, rivers, and ocean currents, all our world's water is constantly mixing. That means that in any cup of water you drink, and in any wave that crashes over your body there are molecules of the same water in which Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. 


Many of us already have some level of appreciation of, and respect for water. I have learned more about appreciating water from times when I have not had the luxury of running water. Times when I've been in developing countries with no running water or just out on camping trips. In those situations when I have had to purify my own water, I am more careful with how much I use, how I use it, and how I reuse it when possible. 

There is a group in our church that travels to Honduras to dig water-wells in regions where there is no running water. Earlier this year, I bought an aluminum water bottle from them, and now every time I fill it with tap water, I am reminded to be thankful that I have running tap water in my home. It is also an opportunity to not to use a single-use plastic bottle. So many of those bottles end up as litter, and in our oceans that I try to avoid them whenever possible. It is a sad irony that a water bottle can turn around and pollute our water resources. Using that bottle is a reminder of the connectedness of humanity, and especially the way water connects us around the world. 

When we consider ourselves isolated individuals, moving from home to work to store and back home again, we can forget that we are ultimately and intimately connected with one another. Through the air we breath, the water we drink and wash with, and even the soil we farm for food. All these things are gifts from God that we share. We get to use those gifts from God, but none of us created them. What grace it is to participate in the ongoing sharing of God's good creation. What a gift to even be alive and on God's good creation we inhabit. What a gift to be able to wade into the same precious, holy waters that Jesus waded into; not far away, around the world, but right now G street in the Gulf of Mexico. When I remember those connections, I have a sense of communion with those beyond myself. Just like any cup of water can connect me back to Jesus' Baptism so long ago, so far away. In a miraculous moment, time and space disappear into God's omnipresent eternal reality. 

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