WATER: A SACRED RESOURCE

By CJ: raju sanadi

While in Zimbabwe, I visited the home of Pastor Kenneth Mtata. Pastor Mtata's mother prepared breakfast one morning. As she poured a glass of water which she had hauled a mile from a water source, I sat there looking for words to decline the water. Pastor Mtata explained to his mom that while it was safe for the people of their area to drink the water, the water contained elements that might make me sick.

The writer of Genesis 1 places water right at the beginning of Creation. The writer opens with the image of the divine spirit hovering over the water at the creation of the universe.Throughout Scripture and in liturgical practice, water has had deeply understood sacramental roles culminating with the water of baptism. Science and everyday experience confirm the description in the Scriptures of water as life-giving for all Creation. Adequate supplies of life-giving water is needed for the sustenance of all life.

When the poor and needy seek water, I will open rivers on the bare heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. Isaiah 41:17-18

Within Creation water undergoes a cycle. Water flows from sources, is contained, distributed, sometimes purified, used and then collected and distributed for further purification before rejoining the flow. In our reality the water of Creation is the result of complicated combinations of the natural processes set in place by the evolution of Creation and by many human interventions.

As the World's population grows, global and regional climates change, and the world society's increase in technological complexities and dependencies accelerates, water availability is changing and more sources of pollution are making water unfit for sustaining Creation, for liturgical purposes or for human consumption.

The Caring for Creation social statement of the ELCA recognizes that "living creatures, and the air, soil and water that support them, face unprecedented threats." The social statement affirms the ELCA's support for proposals and actions to protect and restore "water, especially drinking water, groundwater, polluted runoff, and industrial and municipal waste."

Additionally, The Religious Working Group on Water of which the ELCA is a member organization, calls for U.S. Government action in four vital areas:

• Substantially increase Development Assistance Account funding for clean drinking water and adequate sanitation – as part of an overall increase in U.S. development assistance for sustainable human development and poverty alleviation world-wide.
  

• Ensure that water projects of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank prioritize access to the most impoverished people and communities, and that IFI policies respect and ensure sustainable and affordable access for all people.
  

• Oppose irresponsible and unjust practices of extractive industries that drain scarce water resources for profit and pollute clean water sources.
  

• Fully support the human right to water, which for people of faith is rooted in God’s gift of water to all people, and which entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.