Pilgrim's Progress: Water, water: Mary Taylor
Go for a walk and you’ll see patches of brown grass and dry thirsty soil. Lettuce seedlings have wilted or been pulled out of the ground by birds looking for moisture. Here in Yorkshire, we could soon have a hosepipe ban as the reservoir levels sink ever lower. There is nothing like a drought to remind us of our dependence on water for life or make us grateful for rain.
No wonder water is a universal metaphor for deeper human needs. Beyond our physical dependence we all need to be refreshed by joy and hope, love, wonder and healthy community.
Of course, it is wise for us to build security and savings to cushion against financial difficulty, but we also need to build deep reservoirs of the things that help us flourish. In many faith traditions digging deep wells often symbolises the act of seeking God and God’s renewing, transforming presence. This seeking is both for individuals and communities of faith, often through spiritual practices that make space for the Divine.
Sadly, we are constantly being urged to seek things that don’t ultimately satisfy our thirst for connection, either with God or each other; our lives become rather like reservoirs full of shopping trolleys and discarded rubbish. Yet an interesting recent survey shows a growth in young people who are attending church. The survey revealed that for them church is a space for finding healing and community as well as a deeper sense of meaning in their life.
One of Jesus most striking sayings was an invitation to receive from him ‘rivers of living water’. This refreshing gift of abundant life would not only flow into a person but also outwards, refreshing those around them. A reservoir, a well, a spring, a river of abundant life – which will you become?
Mary Taylor
Retired Minister, Wakefield Baptist Church