When I was a child, I was not so much scared of the water, but I was not a good swimmer. I can still remember my aunt trying to teach me to swim, and recall the story told (although I myself do not remember the incident) of when I was young, perhaps 5, while surf-fishing at Grand Isle, I almost drowned. I was in the surf with Mom and Dad while they were fishing, when suddenly I went under and apparently got caught in an undertow current. The story goes that Mom cried out to Dad, that I went underwater, and as Dad looked down into the water he was standing in (about waist deep), he saw my 5-year old body under the water moving out to sea. He promptly grabbed me up from the tow and here I sit today recounting the story.
As a person from Louisiana, many times I take water for granted. You don’t have to travel far to get to water in this state and there is never a shortage it seems. But for many, an ever-pressing question is “how do I get to water?” And, of course, this question is both physical and spiritual for all of us.
The readings today are loaded with images of water and people in/out of water, and/or trying to get to water. In Ez 47:1-9, 12, we find a very detailed account of how an angel shows the prophet how water flowing from the threshold of the temple, expands outward in 1000 cubit increments, getting deeper and deeper. Ezekiel wades through the water, from ankle-deep, to knee-deep, to waist-deep, to “can’t-touch” deep, only to be finally carried by the angel and placed on the banks of this great flowing river.
In Jn 5:1-16, we hear the story of the lame man (of 38 years) who waits for the waters to stir in the pool of Bethesda near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem, so that he can get into the healing waters and be cured. The only problem is that he’s lame, so when the waters stir, he can’t get to the water in time to reap the benefits of the healing flow. Everyone else seems to get into the water before he can. When Jesus sees this, he simply asks “do you want to be well?” When the man says ‘yes,’ Jesus tells him to pick up his mat and walk – of course, it was a Sabbath when this occurred – that Jesus is always causing a stir! It is interesting that the water the man needed apparently was this healing directive from Jesus (Love itself), and not necessarily to be physically brought to the water.
Healing, healing, healing! We all need it and want it even though we may not be conscious of it. It is the case that many times, we need an angel to rescue us from the deep waters of life that are both life-giving and death-dealing at times. We also need to be told to simply “get up” and walk to the water. Although the community around the characters in these scripture stories appears to be sparse, many times it is those around us who do save us from the water and help us into the water. In both scenarios, I believe it is Love operating in the only way that it can!
And it is comforting for me, to realize that although many times we do have to be in the water, which can be both exhilarating and frightening, many times we experience the grace of life and love by sitting on the banks of the rivers of life itself. It is on these riverbanks of life that we can experience the nourishment and healing provided by the flowing water – “Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail…for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.” The sanctuary of love, i.e., community, flowing outward, shared always, can bring nourishment and healing – the two things that keep us alive!
Peace,
Thomas