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Water

“Hey, Let’s get a coffee.”  “Do you want to get a drink?”  These are two common lines used by friends, or people who are hoping to be friends. It’s code for “Tell me what you’re thinking.” It’s one of those life pauses that creates space to reflect, share and laugh. Whatever vehicle is chosen, Starbucks, Dunkin’ or the margarita, the base is the same: water. Almost nothing we do happens without water, even if it’s only in the cleanup.  In fact, our bodies are about 60% water. 

The United Nations declared March 22 as World Water Day.  The theme this year was Valuing Water, asking, “What does water mean to me?”

Like the batteries in our cell phones, water is not endlessly renewable.  There comes a time when the cell phone or laptop just won’t hold a charge anymore.  Water is an element of the environment, and protecting the water cycle means considering safe drinking water, sanitation and wastewater, to name a few. 

According to the United Nations, inadequate and faulty systems of the water cycle harm vast numbers of people. In one US city, 12,000 children suffered lead poisoning through their antiquated water system. Many regions of South America face a desperate water shortage. There is neither water to drink nor water to raise crops. The people refer to it as the land dying because the land can no longer support them. It gives rise to poverty and crime.  The certainty that it is death to stay in their parched countries drives the decision to attempt the long and arduous trip to the US southern border. Throughout history people have migrated to improve their living conditions.

Water is a basic need. It is a renewable natural resource that also makes us grateful for the rain and snow which runs down the mountains into the tributaries and then to lakes, rivers and the ocean. I’ve experienced dry summers and restricted lawn watering. But I have never feared turning on the faucet that the water would run clean and potable.

I love the water even to look at. It’s calming and inspiring and yet requires nothing from me. Life doesn’t offer many opportunities like it. I start thinking about the beach or the pool right about now. Sitting on the beach makes me more thoughtful and has helped me unravel the problems of life. Sitting down with a friend for a cup of coffee has often had the same effect.  Sometimes on both of us.

This is Holy Week and a time to contemplate the passion of Christ.  During Christ’s final moments on the cross a centurion:

 “…got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink.”

I wonder if the centurion was attempting to comfort Jesus in his final moments or was it one final jab of mockery.

Until this week I always thought it was a change of heart and an offer of comfort from the centurion.  Comfort, that I have both received and given to friends.

When Georgia passed legislation making it more difficult for Georgians to cast their vote, it convince me that it was a mockery. Limiting mail-in voting and the number of ballot drop boxes are very restrictive parts of this egregious ruling.

Voting needs to be as broad and expansive as our “sea to shining sea.” The state of our lives, the state of our towns/cities, the state of our state, and the state of our nation are the ebb and flow of our hearts and minds. The oceans to the left and right of our country contain all 300 million of us.  It is a daunting number and the concerns are daunting as well.  

The land from Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean is meant to promote unity like a glass of water offered and received. Yet the Georgian legislators deem it a crime if a bottle of water is offered to a potential voter waiting in a long line. Now I believe that the centurion was mocking our savior on the cross. A simple drink has always been the beginning, the foundation of the sharing of hearts and minds.

Georgia’s legislators, like the centurion are poking our democracy with a stick.  They want to withhold two basic necessities: water for life and the vote for the life of our democracy.