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In these verses the psalmist describes a situation of danger that leads him to cry out to God for God’s protection and salvation. 

What is being described is not a passing situation. It has been happening for some time, and thus the cry to God as well. Hence God’s actions have resulted in joy, thanksgiving and praise. 

Throughout history civilizations have flourished wherever there has been a source of water, whilst others have faded away or collapsed due to scarcity of water resources. People have fought and died for even small patches of water.

Water is the source and powerhouse of life. Without it the earth would be an arid desert, where life would be impossible because of famine and drought. Even though we know that it can be the cause of death (through floods, drowning and water-borne diseases), water is generally seen and appreciated for the advantages and benefits that it brings to the life of living beings.

The psalmist once declared, “The Earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it” (Psalm 24:1). From generation to generation, we have a lifespan to enjoy and steward God’s Earth. However, in recent decades, industries that unsustainably extract from God’s Earth have been spinning out of control. Their actions challenge God's sovereignty over the gifts that were created for sharing by  all Creation and for all generations. Extractive and other industries have been privatizing the natural gifts of God’s Earth and have excluded local communities from sharing in these gifts.

Since primordial times, people have struggled for basic natural resources, including water which is such a crucial element of life. We find examples of this struggle throughout the Bible. For instance, the biblical story in Exodus 15:22-27 tells how the Israelites searched for clean water to be able to survive after crossing the Red Sea into the wilderness. They arrive at a place called Marah – Hebrew for “bitterness” – where they find water but discover that it is not fit for drinking. 

The Bible begins with the story of creation by God, with the Genesis of the Earth. Before the creation of humankind, God creates the heaven and the earth; he then separates the earth from water which he called “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas” (Genesis 1:9). God then plants a garden and puts humankind in the middle of this garden to live there and to cultivate the land and take care of it and his creation (Genesis 2:15). Land is the place where humankind is invited to live and called upon to be its stewards.

Thirty women gathered in Bethlehem on 13-18 December 2010 to celebrate the first anniversary of the «Kairos Palestine» document on the quest for peace and human rights in Palestine and Israel. The gathering also reflected theologically on the content of the text. Participants came from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Latin America and Australia.

The streams and themes of these Seven Weeks of Lent and of these Seven Weeks for Water flow together as Lent draws to its conclusion. The Seven Weeks of Water during Lent recall the final seven weeks of preparation for candidates for Christian Initiation in the early church, culminating in the waters of the baptismal pool and the bread and the cup of the eucharistic table at Easter. 

For most Christian traditions, the drama enacted by Jesus at the Last Supper focuses on the simple elements of bread and wine, and the not-so-simple mystery of the body of Christ made present in the world as the church gathers to reenact that final meal.  Yet before Jesus offered his disciples the bread and cup, he enacted another drama that has gone nearly forgotten in many churches—he poured water into a basin and knelt down to wash their feet.

Nipe maji ninywe, maji ya uzima Yesu akasema mmesha yapata…(give me water to drink, the living water, Jesus said you already have it…), thus goes a famous Swahili song that captures the need and great desire for water in Kenya. Many are still pleading – give us water;  how can we get water?