Stories of water are everywhere these days. Living in the Midwest we are acutely aware of those cities that have been devastated by floods, by rivers overflowing, by levees that will not hold back the water. For many, those in Iowa and in the farm country, these are the same people who just a year or so ago were longing for water to rain upon their drought ridden land and crops.

We are beings held together through and by water, literally. The highest percentage of our bodies is made up of water. We build our homes near water for what it brings to us. It quenches our thirst. It keeps us clean. It provides recreation and refreshment. Its tributaries and arteries bring things we need by boat and barge. When we travel to other planets and search for life forms, what do we look for? Signs of water.

In our scriptures and in other sacred stories, water is both reality and metaphor. The stories of Noah and Jonah, the parting of the Red Sea, Jesus walking across the sea of Galilee…..real water but oh, so much more. These stories remind us of the ways in which water can be dangerous and can overwhelm us….but that even in those times God walks with us. Noah reaches dry land. Jonah overcomes his fears and failures and is finally ‘thrown up’ on dry land. The children of Israel are delivered into freedom. Jesus brings comfort to the fearful in the boat.

As our brothers and sisters continue to rebuild their lives and clear the muck from what they can salvage, I pray a voice from someplace deep within will remind them of the Spirit’s Presence when they need it most. May our prayers reach across the ripples and the waves and give them the courage. May we become tributaries of prayer.

"I take a sip of simple water and with that the story of life. Its molecules have been in the rain forest, have lived in quantum compounds, have waved in sea anemones, have been the waters of baptism, have lived in our mothers, and are now on their way to ever new formations."  (from Worshipping Ecumenically)