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Seven Weeks for Water 2014, week 3: "A pilgrimage towards water of life", by Guillermo Kerber

The third Biblical reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2014 is by Guillermo Kerber, the World Council of Churches programme executive for Care for Creation and Climate Justice. Based on a personal experience of a pilgrimage on water in the Bible, he underscores water as the “source of life” and introduces water as the protagonist of crucial moments in the history of people’s lives in the Bible.

WCC Programmes
03 March 2014
7weeks2014
7 Weeks for Water
Ecumenical Water Network

In the context of the WCC’s pilgrimage of justice and peace, the Seven Weeks of Water this year focuses on a “pilgrimage towards water justice”. When asked to offer some reflections on the theme, there came to my mind an activity in which I participated last year during the Time for Creation. On a grey and rainy September morning around 40 people from various churches met at the Mouilles pond in Bernex, Geneva, Switzerland, to walk around the pond and reflect on water in the Bible. We called it a “pilgrimage on water in the Bible” and made a tour around the pond, with various stops along the way, to reflect on how water appears in the Bible and how we, in our daily lives, relate to water. We were carrying 20–litre buckets of water to remember the women in Africa who walk for miles to get drinking water, as we had learned that morning in an earlier presentation on H2O – Energies, a Swiss NGO providing drinking water to poor communities in various countries in Africa. After these biblical reflections we had an ecumenical celebration on the shore of the pond. The following reflections are an excerpt of what was shared during this activity.

  • Water is omnipresent in the Bible. From the first page, when “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters“ (Gen 1: 2), to the last page when in the book of Revelation the angel showed John “the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” Rev 22:1), water appears many times in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.

  • In fact, the whole Bible may be seen as a water pilgrimage. Water is the protagonist at crucial moments in the history of the people of the Bible. Water covered the earth during the flood when only Noah, his family and a couple of each species are saved in the ark (Genesis 6-9). The people who were slaves in Egypt were liberated by God, led by Moses who opened the waters of the sea to make possible the people’s escape from Pharaoh and his troops (Exodus 14:21- 22).

  • In the New Testament, Mark’s gospel opens with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. In the meeting with the Samaritan woman, too, Jesus proclaimed that the water he will give “will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

  • Water, thus, has several meanings in the Bible. From water of life in the book of Revelation, to water that destroys everything in the flood.

  • Water in today’s world also has several meanings. For some it is a blessing that makes fertile land offer food for life. For others it destroys cultivated fields, villages and lives. A particular contemporary concern of water justice is “water grabbing”. Mainly transnational companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America are diverting water resources and watersheds and depriving vulnerable communities from something that is essential for their livelihoods.

  • Limiting or even in some cases preventing access to water and sanitation is not only a violation of human rights but an action against God’s creation, affecting vulnerable populations around the world.

    Thoughts for reflection

  1. As a time for conversion and repentance, Lent could be a time to look at the various meanings of water from a spiritual point of view and change our behaviours in terms of our consumption patterns.

  2. What images of water do you have in your mind with special meaning for your life? It can be a lake, a river, a sea, an ocean, a simple pond... What do these images tell you?

Questions for Discussion

  1. What passage about water in the Bible speaks to your heart? Water as source of life, water as destruction, water that liberates ... Why do you find it so significant?

  2. How much aware are you about the relevance of water in your daily life, in your community, in your country?

  3. Given the above spiritual significance of water, what would the pilgrimage towards water justice mean for you this Lent?

Ideas for Action

  1. Learn more and get engaged on water concerns in your community, your country.

  2. Suggest that your congregation or parish sponsor an activity (a celebration, a reflection, a concrete action) at the local level.

  3. Share your reflections and actions with the Ecumenical Water Network.

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* Dr Guillermo Kerber is the Programme Executive of the World Council of Churches responsible for the programme on Care for Creation and Climate Justice.

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