WATER

 Here God brings order to the waters of his Creation, that order is mirrored in present day theories of how our hot arid planet received its water- from water rich comets or asteroids bombarding the Earth from the heavens. 

Water is essential to life and has frequent mentions in the Bible. We remember Hagar dying of thirst but rescued by a well from God. Ahab denied rain until Elijah triumphed over the Priests of Baal, Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well and in Revelation that amazing image of the river of the water of life. 

Yet despite the vital importance of water, we are careless with this precious resource. The river Ganges is part of a vital eco-system and of spiritual importance , yet it is degraded by industrial pollution and the impact of dams threatening the species that rely upon it. Other freshwater ecosystems are threatened, even here in the UK- figures from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee have shown that 68% of rivers designated as ‘sites of special scientific interest’ are in poor condition with a decline in wildlife.  Even now water companies are pouring untreated human waste into our rivers and seas with minimal penalties. 

Despite our complacency we are fortunate to have safe water to drink from a tap but this is not the case for so many in our World today, 60% of the world’s population live in areas where the amount of water cannot meet the demand. With climate change this will worsen. But climate change does not only lead to drought but also to floods and other extreme weather events that harm the poorest disproportionately. 

What can we do? We can be aware of the factors leading to climate change, we can lend our financial support to those most at risk. Our Church has ‘twinned ‘ our toilets, enabling a poor community to build a basic toilet and as a result have access to unpolluted water. We can contact those in power and voice our outrage at the treatment of our seas and rivers.