“The water I give them will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
~John 4:14
The re-entry from vacation has been slower than I anticipated which has kept me from these pages over the last week. Perhaps it was the coming and going from three different time zones and the experience of the long, Solstice light in the Land of the Midnight Sun that did it! Anyway, I think my rhythms are evening out and I have once again firmly planted my feet of Midwestern soil.
This planting-on-ground has not kept me from reflecting, as I have over and over again the last days, on the power of the presence of water. Being in so many places where water was the backdrop for lives being lived has caused me to think a lot about water and its ability to create something quite magical, or spiritual, in we who walk upright. In Seattle there is the constant presence of Puget Sound with ships and ferries spiriting people to and from distant, yet visible shores. As we cruised in both ocean and fjord, the water became the dance floor on which we glided through mountain scenery. When this crystal, clear water became dotted with the aquamarine blue of icebergs, we knew we were in a place where glacial water had become a land mass all on its own. A fragile and threatened land mass but solid, nonetheless.
What is it about water that calls to us? Of course, our scripture stories are full of water experiences. From our beginning story to our exile stories to those of boats and fisherfolk and walking on this unstable element, water weaves itself through the stories that bind us together as people of faith. Water is what we use to welcome and seal those into the community through baptism.
These are all big water presences. But it is the playful nature of water that has continued to travel with me over the last days. Back in Seattle toward the end of our travels, we spent time in the large green area that rings Seattle Center. In the middle of this green space is an enormous fountain, a fountain that sprays and spurts at intermittent intervals, always offering surprise. It is a sunken fountain with slanted walls that are great for running down, for escaping up. Which is what we observed children of all ages doing. Running toward a huge dome at the center, these people rushed to touch the fountain’s center and then turn and run back as quickly as they could before being sprayed by the gushing water. It became a game to outfox the fountain!
And what were the people doing as they ran both toward and from the water that almost always soaked them? Laughing! At the top of their lungs. It was a complete experience of watching people at play. The water became the vehicle for playfulness to overtake these travelers, day campers or anyone who just happened by. It was such a joy to watch and the laughter was contagious.
I thought of these running and laughing souls over the weekend when I read my horoscope: “Lucky things are born in the spirit of play. What starts out as a toy or game will develop quickly into something with a more substantial effect- perhaps a business or lifestyle.” I’m not so sure what ‘business’ this kind of watery play might birth. But I am certain that those who take a certain time in the presence of water inform the lifestyle they are creating.
Water can bring us to awe and mystery. It can also bathe us with a renewed sense of the Spirit. It can calm our hearts and soothe our souls. And many times the full, rush of water can cause us to laugh and play with our original childlike selves.
Summer is the perfect time for water play. Go for it!
