Living Water: Nourished by Christ. Pouring Life into the World.
Are you looking for some refreshment in your prayer life? This blogpost includes a reflection, readings, music and more… a gift for you! As you scan the post, notice what speaks to you and make time to go a little deeper.
Water gives us life, renews us, and connects all creation. As we encounter Jesus as Living Water, we are invited to notice where God is nourishing us—and where we are called to become life-giving streams of grace, caring for one another and the waters of our precious Earth.
I AM grateful to Nancy, a member of the BeLoved Leadership Circle, who co-created this
prayer service.
Rev. AndreaGrace’s Prayerful Ponderings
When we read The Bible, we need to consider the context.
Then, we can also think in both literal and figurative terms.
This is especially true in the Season of Creation…
and in all our readings that talk about the Living Waters that bring new, abundant life and freedom.
We can prayerfully ponder what is God inviting me to do to help preserve and clean up waters?
Nancy found this great story from right here on Cape Cod!
I wonder: what touched you in that piece?
What are you doing or might you do to help with water conservation and purification?
Could you:
Turn off water while brushing your teeth or washing dishes or in shower
Take shorter showers or less frequently
Remember and pray for those without water
Financially support organizations that are helping to bring water to people
Use the short wash on washing machine and dishwasher
Using rain barrels or collecting water from AC to water garden
Use reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones
God as The Living Water.
We need water to survive. About 70% of Mother Earth, Gaia, is made up of water. Our own bodies are made up of about 60% water. And a newly conceived baby grows strong in the amniotic waters of their moms. I just watched a documentary on a rehabilitation program for orphaned elephant calves. When the calves are strong enough, they are gathered in a new herd and lead into the wild again - under close human supervision. They instinctively find a body of water - a sign of their successful future. And you know when you are parched on a hot summer day - how delightful - miraculous - a drop of water can be!
Water. We need it. We treasure it.
Like the elephants who intrinsically seek water, we intrinsically seek God. St. Augustine wrote about Jesus - as the Living Water - and gave us the saying: Our hearts will not rest until the rest in you, oh God.
So, I wonder - how have you found nourishment in God?
How has God been like water for you?
Our readings talk about miracles… and freedom and new life…
How have you experienced new life, miracles, freedom in God?
Here is the amazing - miraculous news -
Because we have been created in God’s image
and the Holy Spirit breathed life into us
and we’ve received an outpouring of grace through baptism and confirmation
Because we’re nourished in the Eucharist and through the Scriptures
and our time in community and in nature
Because we’ve heard Jesus’ call like St. John - and we’ve given Christ our hearts and our lives - we are filled with the Living Water
It brings new life in us -
New life - in abundant fruit and living waters - are then poured out of us to others, for others…
abundant life that keeps on going!
and that is some amazing grace!
Praise be to our God from whom all blessings flow
Expanding Our Image of the Divine
Have you considered these titles for The Trinity:
God, Source of Life
Jesus, The Living Water; and
The Holy Spirit, Who Graces the Water
Holy Wisdom, Holy Words
Ezekiel 47:9-12 MES. A Reading from… Include intros “[The Season of Creation’s theme for this year] is “Living Water.” It explores Ezekiel 47:9 and 12 as a powerful biblical vision of hope and ecological healing. Set amid exile and loss, the image of living water flowing from God’s sanctuary reveals divine healing that renews land, water, biodiversity, and human responsibility towards the whole creation.” In this reading, we hear about a vision Ezekiel received about water flowing from the altar in the Temple outside of the building, flowing like a river down to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is a body of water that is so salty that nothing can live in it. Check out this reading to see what happens!
Psalm 1: the very first one - gives us the phrase “like a tree planted by the water, I shall not be moved.” This inspired the song: I Shall Not Be Moved. My father-in-love, Walter, asked that this song be played at his funeral. Walter was an amazing dad and inspiration. He retired from the military and focused on helping incarcerated youth. Walter was an elder in his Baptist church… His body is buried in a military cemetery… and his plot is by a tree and water! Joining Walter, and with childlike wonder and hope, we can pray with this song.
John 7:37-39 This prayer service was celebrated by the BeLoved Community in the end of September when our Jewish siblings, were celebrating the Feast of Sukkot - or Tabernacles. It is one of the three main feasts in the religion. In Jesus’ time, everyone who could, was expected to return to the Temple in Jerusalem. This joyful feast of thanksgiving lasts for seven days - this year from Sept 25 - Oct 2. It is outlined in the Book of Leviticus. It celebrates the Jewish freedom after moving through the Egyptian desert. To this day, some Jews create a temporary shelter outside - called a sukkah - to remind them of the temporary housing their ancestors once had. In addition, four types of branches are gathered and used throughout the feast in different ways. Leviticus 23:40 proclaims: And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.” We hear the echo of fruit and trees by the river - as well as palms. It is during the Feast of Sukkot that Jesus enters the Temple In Jerusalem and makes the following proclamation.
OLAG - the Older Ladies Against Under Water Garbage - check out the wisdom of Susan Bauer and these modern-day women who are working to clean up ponds and lakes. They are also such inspiration of positive aging and what we can do later in life to make the world a better place!
Holy Companions – The St. John’s from Biblical Times
As we shine the spotlight on water and read from the gospel of John, we invite The St. John(s) to be with us. Traditionally, people believed that:
St. John the Apostle was the same as
The Beloved Disciple whom Jesus loved from the Cross… and
the Author of both the gospel of John and the book of Revelations - as well as the 3 letters from John in the New Testament.
Now - scholars are not so sure this was all the same person.
The Apostle John, was son of Zebedee and Salome and the younger brother of James. They were fishermen whom Jesus invited to follow him and then nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder.” John the Apostle witnessed some key moments like: the Transfiguration, the raising of Jairus’ daughter who’s named Talitha, and Jesus’ agony in the garden, as well as the first miracles after the Resurrection.
The Gospel of John mentions “the beloved disciple” to whom Jesus entrusts His mom, one who stayed with him on the cross. It has been assumed that it was John, the apostle and author… but some scholars are now suggesting that the beloved disciple was really Mary Magdalene. Something to explore if you are intrigued!
The writing styles of the gospel of John and the book of revelations are different from each other.
Early church documents refer to a John the Presbyter, meaning elder, and John of Patnos - a Greek island. It is believed that John the Apostle was exiled to Patnos around 95 AD and died of natural causes there. We don’t know if these are three different Johns or if there are different names for the same man.
Each of the gospels writers has an animal associated with them. John’s is the eagle - because he soared so high in the depths of his gospel.
In John’s gospel, he tells detailed stories about women and their faith - like Mary at the wedding in Cana and Photini, the Samaritan woman at the well - on whose testimony a community is converted.
John’s feast day is Dec. 27.
May all the Johns be with us today.
Sacred Melodies
I Shall Not be Moved – Based on a verse from Psalm 1
We Will Gather at the Water by Sarah Hart - In Biblical times, people like Sts. Lydia (Acts 16:13-15) and Paul gathered at the water to pray.
Sacred Practices Treasure Chest
Many people were taught that only priests and ministers could bless water – energizing it with God’s grace. Rev. AndreaGrace believes that each of us has the Divine Spark in us and can invoke God’s blessings and grace to bless anything – including water. She also believes that God’s grace and energy are present throughout creation… So when we “bless water,” we are activating the Divine Energy in it and perhaps – giving it an extra dose of grace!
Consider blessing your own water using the prayer below and then use the water to nourish ourselves & the world around us in cooking, watering plants, drinking (plain, in tea or coffee), etc. - be creative!!
The Blessing of the Waters from the BeLoved’s Easter Vigil:
*Divine Love – Creator God – Holy Trinity -You give us grace through sacramental signs, like this water,
which tell us of the wonders of your unseen power.
At the very dawn of creation your Spirit breathed on the waters.
After the great flood, You gave us the rainbow as a signof your faithful covenant to be with us always.
You parted the Red Sea andled our Jewish siblings out of slavery into freedom.
In the waters of the Jordan, Jesus was baptized by John.
As Jesus hung on the cross, water and blood flowed from his side.
After Jesus’ resurrection He told his disciples:“Go out and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Creator, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Oh Beloved God,
pour Your grace upon this water,
so that as we are touched by this water,
we will be cleansed of all ills and experience new life in You.
We bless this water:
+ Creator God, Jesus the Living Water and Ruah - Holy Spirit. Amen.
LovingKindness In Action
Pray about how you can help conserve and purify water – then take action! See some ideas above in Rev. AndreaGrace’s Prayerful Ponderings
Invite someone over for a glass of water, cup of tea or other source of refreshment.
Reflect on your own spiritual journey. How has your spiritual life refreshed you – especially when it felt like you were walking through difficult deserts.
A Blessing for Your Journey
This is an adaptation of a Prayer by St. Hildegard:
BeLoved God
You who hold all of creation in your womb and pring us forward onto the Earth at birth.
Spirit of Tides,
Bless my sisters and brothers with the rise and fall of Your rhythms
that they may discover your rhythm deep within their own beings.
Spirit of Greenness,
Bless them with moistness and vigor in their lives that they might savor the experience of Your energy moving through them out into the
world.
Be blessed that you may be carried by the flow of the great river of life.
that you may discover a hidden spring within, gushing forth.
that you may be carried to the shores of the sacred and renewed.
Be blessed in the name of God, The Living Water.
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