Humans and Water

For the last two years Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona has been focused on the policy priority of water. I have the privilege to serve on the LAMA board and we have learned a lot about water over the past two years. I have gathered a lot of this information for today from the LAMA website at: lamaz.org. One of the more surprising factors in our water consumption as a state that I have learned is the breakdown of the use of water from different groups. That breakdown is that water use in our state consists of 72% agricultural, 22% municipal and 6% industrial. The reason I say that I was surprised is that growing up in California I remember learning about water conservation both from my parents and at school and I was always told that we needed to find ways to conserve water as a household. Now I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have done that as every bit helps, but I think I had this stereotype or assumption in my mind that individual homes were the main consumers of water.

So that’s why I say that it was surprising to me that almost 3/4 of the water used in the state, and probably many states goes to agriculture. So again, I am not saying that in this time of drought for our state we shouldn’t do what we can to conserve the water we use, but it also shows that the main way that we can conserve our water is through agricultural practices, which I know the state has been addressing over the years and there are many advances in water usage at that level, including legislation. Yet, at the same time, we know how important a harvest is to be able to feed people both locally as well as globally. Which is why even in a mostly dry state like Arizona, it is important to be thankful for the rains we receive and the bodies of water we have to be able to grow the crops we have.

Which is exactly what this psalm is all about. Both traditionally and in the Jewish calendar today, this psalm is believed to mark a time of celebrating the harvest or perhaps a feast after the harvest. The only way that they are able to truly celebrate this harvest is for the good rain that came down on the earth to provide a bountiful harvest. So the prayers of the people for a good rainy season to provide a good harvest season is what is being celebrated in this psalm.

The psalm also celebrates the gathering of God’s people into God’s house and praises God for answering their prayers. We see in both verse 2 and verse 5 that God is celebrated for listening to their prayers and one of the most prominent ways acknowledge that is through this conversation about all the different types of water in the earth and how God is in control of them. The psalm celebrates God being in charge of calming the roaring seas and the roaring waves. They celebrate the abundance of God upon the earth and use the imagery of a stream of God full of water as providing that abundance. God fills the irrigation trenches and brings soft rain showers and bless the growth of the land through it.

I am no expert but I would venture to say that Israel has similarities to Arizona especially in that a good part of the land is desert, and the whole reason I bring that up is that toward the end of the psalm the psalmist reminds us that even in the desert places drip with growth which can only come from the waters that God brings upon these dry places. And even if we don’t see the rain or water sources ourselves, when we see hills dressed in pure joy then we see the evidence of the water in the land. The desert places and the hills showing signs of wildflowers and life springing up are the evidence we need to know that essential water of life has brought bounty to even the places we tend to think of as dry.

Just last week I told you how exciting it is to hear the raindrops hitting our patio and we do jump up and down at even the smallest amount of rain that comes to our desert land just like we hear about the Israelites celebrating the harvest that has come from the rain in this psalm. I also saw the way that the desert pastures drip with the abundance of God’s blessing of water. If you happened to read my letter a few months back about the Hedgehog cactus, you know that I was celebrating the way that the flowers of this cactus look like huge trumpets celebrating the Easter Resurrection story.

It is amazing how such a small cactus can produce such huge flowers. And just like everything else that grows and produces such beauty it takes some time, even months, after the rain for this beauty to appear, but it does appear and it does show God’s glory. Well, as you know, school started back up in Mesa on August 1st which means that our family is back to our daily walks to bring the girls to school in the morning. Just this last week, to my and Bekkah’s total surprise, and Bekkah’s keen observation skills, we saw that same Hedgehog cactus that I wrote about in my letter blooming a single flower. That flower was a sign, a trumpet or shout of praise and thanksgiving to God for the rain it had recently received. It was thanking God for the water of life that it received in the form of rain. I honestly could not believe that was blooming 4 months after all the cactus had bloomed in the Spring.

Today, I believe that we should always pray for an abundance of rain so that those who work in agriculture can have a good harvest so that we have enough food and affordable food to feed our communities. I also believe that we need to be good stewards of the water that we use in our communities. For sustaining of the land, the creatures that inhabit it, and for ourselves that we can provide clean water for everyone, especially those who are suffering from these hot summers have by calling this desert our home. And we should give thanks to God for the bodies of water we do have and the rain we do receive to help alleviate our drought.

Finally, we should give thanks to God for giving us Jesus who we call our Living Water. The gift of the life of Jesus is just as essential to us as the water we drink and the water that brings about the crops that we eat. Jesus is the Spiritual nourishment that we need and the one who gives us the strength to be good stewards of our creation so that we can continue to bless our world with bodies of water that bring life to even the driest of places, just as Jesus brings life to us. For the blessing of water in all its forms including the Living Water of Jesus we are both grateful and humbled. Amen.