Scripture: Genesis 1:6-8

Reflection: On the second day of creation God spoke the water and sky into being. I love the image of God’s breath becoming the water that gives us life, that makes up over 60% of our bodies and over 70% of the surface of our world. Water gives us life. Very little on our planet exists without it and is untouched by it. And when God created it, God called it “good.”

One of the themes of scripture is that water brings life. The Psalms use water as an image for our longing and need for God (Psalm 1:3, Psalm 23:2, Psalm 63:1). Jesus also uses that language and idea when describing our need for Him: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water”” (John 7:37). Water is necessary. We need it to survive and if we do not have it our bodies scream out for it. We are dependent on it. Just as we are dependent on God for our life and being. Water is both a life giving gift from God and reminder of our need for Christ and for the life He gives us. 

God’s creation is dependent on water as well, and God has positioned us as co-creators and carers for that creation. When water is depleted, poisoned or degraded, neither we nor creation can experience its life giving properties. It ceases to be a picture of God’s sustaining grace. It’s easy to take water for granted, especially when we live or work in places where it’s readily accessible. But if we remember that every molecule and crystal of it comes from God’s own words and will, how do we begin to think about caring for it differently?

Suggested action: If you have unlimited clean water, try to reduce your water use, and save energy by using cold instead of hot. Try to spot-clean clothing so that it doesn’t have to be washed as often, and wash only full loads of laundry. Set the timer for 5 minute showers, and turn off the water while brushing your teeth. Instead of using the hot water setting on your washing machine, wash your laundry in cold water. Consider taking a walk near your local body of water and thinking of the ways that water sustains the world around it and the way God sustains us.

Suggested resources: Chasing Coral (Netflix) or Chasing Ice (Prime) and the book “Climate for Change” by Katherine Hayhoe

Action suggestions are from: “A Fast for the Earth: Lent 2021 a resource created by The Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care Diocese of Toronto”

All film suggestions are from the PBS Independent Lens blog “Earthy Day Watch list: 17 Films About Sustainability and Climate Change” (with the exception of “Chasing Ice” and “Black Fish”  which are from other sources). All the listed movies offered as suggestions by CEF as starting points for discussion around sustainability and stewardship.  https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/earth-day-watch-list-17-new-films-about-sustainability-climate-change/

Image: Claude Monet’s “Sunrise”