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Water Into Wine
(written before the coronavirus)
I had been thinking a lot lately about water. It’s hard to not think about it in Uruguay because there have been inundations and floods of water. And when the humidity comes sneaking in at night or as a surprise in the day, it’s like a massive fog that gets everything wet that exists in it and driving on the route means miles at about 25 m.p.h.
 In Carmelo, three hours from Montevideo, which is on the Atlantic Ocean, we live in a banario at the beginning of the giant Rio de la Plata, the widest river in the world. It comes together not too far from our door step, combining the Rios Uruguayo and San Juan and Santa Lucia of Uruguay, with the Rios Parana, Lujan and Salado of Argentina to flow down to the ocean. I calmly watch its attitude day in and day out, and surmise whether the wind is going north, south, east or west since the terrible cyclones, that sound like bombs on our tin roof, fly over from Argentina, which is so close our Direct TV comes from there. Giant tankers with or without containers pass by at a good distance while on warm days, people appear to walk their dogs out about half a kilometer because on our side when the tide is out, it is shallow sufficiently one can have a kickball game in the shallow places.
It’s difficult to escape the fact that these are wet times - instant flooding all over the world, turbulences in the seas, rivers so filled with water runoff from storms that their banks overflow. All the rich folk wanted houses right on the beaches of the oceans, and now they are losing everything as the waves pinch off bit by bit their lovely property.
Weather is the new challenge in our lifestyle. There are cyclones storms, hail storms, snow storms, tornados, downbursts, water spouts, and hurricanes that batter palm trees to the ground and gouge out weak or wealthy homes people cherish no matter where they were built. If the storm drains stop up, you could have a flood right on your street, even in your house you thought safe. Better have insurance.
Remember, to begin with, 71 per cent of the earth’s surface is water and it’s now growing due to climate change because we all are electrical fiends, garbage disposers and gas guzzlers. We abuse our privilege of water just brushing our teeth and forget the millions who have no safe water to drink nor wash with. Water storms are so out of control that I hope we learn how to swim, and particularly to float so we have a chance to survive any sort of water drama.
I try to remember we were promised there would be no more cause for Noah’s Ark, but we are certainly creeping up to the possibility - maybe a re-run - of that time when God was so upset with the world, He decided to start over. I wonder if modern day cruise ships carrying thousands at a time will be the rescue for a few survivors if the world floods once more. I hope not. Being coupe up in one of those monsters scares me to death.
Truly, Water has a power few other elements have. We cannot live without it. It is vital for all forms of life. It is about 50-60 percent of our body and we need to refill it as much as possible. Water needs to come in, go through, and come out taking with it unnecessary or unhealthy things. Luckily it has no calories but is needed to help burn calories. Why do you think there are so many smart waters and fizz waters out there earning fortunes for their producers as we grow more conscious of the need for water? Drink, Drink, Drink and don’t re-fill your bottle so you can buy more plastic. However, I have a water filter under my sink, so I can re-use the better plastic bottles and not add to the plastic mania that’s messing up our oceans and rivers.
Yet, in so many countries and landscapes one cannot drink the water because it is tainted, poisoned or filled with diseases: think of the poor nations of the world where what little water they can squeeze from the soil, has to be boiled to be used. When I lived in Tanganyika in the early sixties, all our water had to be boiled. Up in the high forests the elephants liked to stomp on the primitive pipes that funneled what little water there was trinkled down the hills into our tank. Even today, modern times, there are still so many who cannot wash themselves or flush a toilet because there is not sufficient water to do it. Hike in the mountains of Tibet or Nepal and you’ll quickly long for an audience with water. Then one goes to a river and splashes themselves with water while wearing a full wardrobe, because that is all they have and that’s their system of cleansing. In Tibet there are even holy lakes where by stepping in the short waves, can cleanse us of all our sins, I was told.
Technically, Water is either liquid (clouds are considered liquid) or can be ice blocks that compose a whole continent, i.e. Antarctica. Creeping by giant icebergs while kayaking in Antarctica is something hard to forget, particularly when you see parts of the ice mountains sliding down into the sea, no longer able to hold onto the berg of which it was a part of. That’s due to man’s over-abuse of water all over the world as the earth heats up more than it ever has since the Big Bang.
But water has another side. A holy side. A religious side. The first thing God did in creation was to set up water - and this is in the second verse of the first chapter of Genesis. “And then there was a dome and He separated the waters to create sky for the above waters, and then the third day created waters under the sky surrounding the dry land of Earth. “It is quite amazing.
So mankind has always trusted and depended on water since it was the basic substance of the universe. It is sacred in the Asian philosophy, called Dao de Jing, which claimed that the highest excellence is like that of water as it benefits all things and is a way to reach wisdom or the eternally nameless. Cannot get higher than that. It’s our God. Another comment: “There is nothing softer and weaker than water, and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong, there is nothing more powerful.”
Water is considered a purifier in most faiths. Ritual washing has been included in Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Rastafari, Shinto Taoism and Wicca. The Hindus, who believe all waters, especially rivers, are sacred, cremate the dead and send them into the holiest of waters, that of the Ganges, which is absolutely filthy today, but still the max in holiness for the Hindus.
So before the coming of our Savior, our Jesus Christ the only son of God, after all those wars and conflicts and fires and floods and parting of the sea by Moses, and crossings of the River Jordan, there came the real time, a holy time, our Jesus’s time, when a simple rather odd almost hippy man named John built his holiness and hope on drops of water. It was called baptism. It required only a dip in the river of water at Al-Maghtas on the Jordanian side. And today it can be a dump in a pool or a graceful drop of water pressed on the forehead of babies. It marks us as Christians. The sign of a cross made with holy water for the baptism candidate is a special moment we Christians covet. It is a beginning for each of us.
Yes, Baptism connects us to our Christian history and faith. It invites us and initiates us to be members of the church family worldwide. It opens holy doors for us, be it in the Orthodox, Anglican or Roman catholic churches. In fact most churches base their calling on a wet baptism. It is our entrance and our protection.
The first miracle of our beloved Jesus was to turn water into wine. And it was Jesus who so treasured the idea of baptism that he employed, actually had to insist, that the popular John, his cousin and maybe the first crusader for Jesus, baptized him before He could be who He was sent to be. And God loved it, sending down the dove to recognize His Son.
But let us not forget a more regular and important water event. Each Sunday when the elements for communion are prepared, and the priest or deacon pours water into the wine representing the blood of Christ, we are authenticating our belief of the holiness of water. We are replaying the baptism of our Christ. We are rejoicing in the holy mix of water and wine that is so symbolic in our faith, and depending on your feelings, water becomes part of the blood our Christ shed for us.
In the ancient world, the Greeks added water to wine because it was often thick, gritty and too strong and the water added good taste to it. It was not originally a Jewish custom to add water to wine either, but became part of the Passover meal and from there to our Eucharist or Mass. Catechists in the early 4th century explained that water represented humanity and wine divinity. Once you pour water into wine, it’s impossible to take it out again. So think about this: because of Jesus, humanity can never again be separated permanently from God. Our precious custom of baptism, no matter who you are or what your age, that sacred acceptance of our faith confirms us and honors that blessing. AMEN.
~ Rev
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audrey@audreytaylorgonzalez.com
www.audreytaylorgonzalez.com
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