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Water has always been an instrument of both death and life.  In the beginning the Spirit of God moved over the water, calling forth creation and life. Death came upon the earth in the form of a massive flood during Noah’s time.  Hagar found a well in the wilderness that became saving water for her and her child Ishmael. Life and death, dying and rising, water and Spirit are foundational to the life of faith we share as baptized children of God.

In Holy Tradition and in the Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Churches water has a profound symbolic presence. Water in the sacrament of baptism is intimately related to the Feast of the Theophany. Celebrated on 6 January, Theophany (from the Greek theophania, meaning "appearance or manifestation of God to the world"), is one of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church.

Jesus’s baptism by John in the River Jordan is a fundamental image invoked at virtually every Christian baptism today. But Jesus’s baptism by John could not have been without embarrassment for the first Christians.  John, after all, was seen by many at that time as a rival to Jesus.   There were those who believed that John was God’s last word of revelation to humanity and there are groups who hold such beliefs to this day.  Thus, Jesus coming to John for baptism could have served to substantiate the claims of John’s followers.

My parish church features a large baptismal font where infants and adults alike are baptized. During Sunday liturgies for most of the year, the soft sounds of flowing water provide a peaceful backdrop during moments of silence and prayer and remind us of our baptism. 

Jesus uses water as an effective and surprising channel to demonstrate the central aspect of his vision for the disciples' ministry. According to John's gospel the Last Supper took place in an undisclosed and secret room, in order for Jesus to be alone with his disciples and loved ones. There were no slaves or helpers to break the bread or to pour the wine - just the gathered few. 

At the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Ricardo Petrella, a professor, author, and water activist from Italy, reported that Nestlé and Coca Cola are buying up large tracts of land in Brazil that contain permanent water springs.

Water is a big issue and a question of justice. For some communities there is no water to irrigate land, or clean water to wash and drink. For other communities there may be plenty of water but it comes in unwelcome destructive episodes whether deluge from the sky, floods from rivers or the rising tide of the sea. 

Water is where the meeting in this story takes place. It has great attraction as a place of life and renewal in this dry land. The well where the water can be found is said to be Jacob's - perhaps a reference to the Old Testament patriarch, perhaps a reference to the owner of the plot who has commanded "powerless" slaves and servants to dig the well.

The cholera crisis in Zimbabwe is a chilling illustration of the crucial link between water, sanitation, health and political responsibility.  By the middle of February 2009, the WHO noted that over 70,000 people were infected and 3,524 had died.  

Like the ticking of a clock marking out time, water drips noisily. Maybe it drips off the edge of a stone or roof in times of rain and plenty, or perhaps from a badly turned off tap in societies where earth's most precious and vital resource is unconsciously wasted.

Water is symbolic of our relationship with God, carrying the image of renewal, promise and hope. It is through water that we are baptized into the community of the church. Furthermore, water is essential to all life on Earth, and it links human life to the rest of God's creation. 

Water, God\'s gift to sustain life, not only given for humans but also for the animals and plants. When I think about water in my context I think about rivers, rain, ocean, snow, ice, lakes, streams, waterfalls and dew. I also think about the responsibility required to take care of these gifts. 

There is beautiful simplicity and dedication in Jesus pouring water into a bowl and kneeling to wash his disciples\' feet. His passion and cross are not far away, yet he takes time to care for his friends in this intimate, passionate, gentle way. 

Water is the source of life. The mountain spring that quenches ones? thirst; showers of rain that rejuvenate the parched earth; swift rivers, still lochs and stormy seas that extend beyond the horizon, teeming with life.

The Psalmist offered his hearers an object lesson in the consequences of their collective behaviour. We don't know whether this was a reference to particular incidents but it was obviously the kind of thing with which people would have been familiar. The lack or abundance of water was not down to arbitrary actions by God but was related to the way people behaved.

In Isaiah's vision of justice and sharing, the promise is '"you shall be like a watered garden ... whose waters never fail." It is our Lenten hope that the waters of the garden of the earth will never fail for any of God\'s creatures.

The biblical promise from the prophet Isaiah is that the dry lands can spring with fountains, that wells of fresh water are possible, even in the desert, even when there is no justice in the way water is distributed and paid for.

"How can we design an economy that provides a better quality of life for all within the ecological limits of the planet?" This question is at the centre of the Green Economy debate. 

Intellectual Property Rights, Copyright, and Christian Churches

World Council of Churches / Middle East Council of Churches Consultation

Aleppo, Syria

March 5 - 10, 1997