No Wonder ...
by Sister Suzanne Golas, CSJP
There is an ancient saying, "When you run out of water, you run out of life." All life came from water. All life depends on water. The water that flows around, over and through Earth is the same water that existed on the planet in the very beginning. This same water has embodied the sacred dynamic that, in an over four billion year process, has brought forth and sustained people and puppies, daffodils and dolphins, maples and mosquitoes.
No wonder all religions understand water as holy. Hindus engage in a holy bathing in the Ganges River. Muslims, in their sacred pilgrimage to Mecca, drink from Hagar's well. Shintoists, have a purification water bowl at the entrance to their shrines. Indigenous peoples, throughout the world, perceive rivers, lakes and oceans as Mother Earth's arterial system pumping life and vitality throughout the planet.
No wonder that water is the element mentioned most frequently in the Bible. The Spirit breathes on the water that brings forth life. The prophets proclaim the life giving power of water. Jesus baptized in the flowing waters of the Jordan. Jesus speaks of "living water." Jesus preaches and heals by water.
No wonder that so many people of faith are opposing movements trying to reduce water to a commodity to be sold for the highest price. No wonder that groups and communities are resisting privatization of water. No wonder we do not drink bottled water. No wonder we do not allow transnational corporations to take control of our municipal water system.
Water is sacred. Water is life.