Here in Minnesota, we appreciate the significance of water.
Since the early beginnings of our state through the present day, we’ve harnessed it for power, relied on it for transportation, enjoyed pulling fish from the lakes and rivers to eat, and found peace appreciating its beauty. Water is essential for life; a person could go weeks without food, but only a few days without water. It’s even the prime criteria we look for when spying on distant planets for the possibility of other life forms.
Due to its essential nature, towns and cities tend to grow around a water source. In Scripture, we find the same thing, but with spiritual significance. Our Creator knows our need for water, and so likens it to our spiritual need for relationship with him.
Consider the comfort and security people have when they have water on hand. The first rule of hospitality is to greet people warmly and offer them something to drink. Even Jesus extolled this simple gesture: “And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward” (Mt 10:42). When working in the summer heat, ice cold water cools and refreshes the body. In the frigid winter, hot tea or cocoa warms the body through and soothes the chill.
To thrive, we need a secure and sustainable source of water. Similarly, we need to drink spiritually and would thrive much more if we built our life around a sustainable source for our spiritual thirst — for example daily prayer, regular sacraments, and developing deep Christian friendships. As the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed:
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
In the Scriptures, we also find spiritual connections to well water. Away from surface sources of fresh water, a person who ventures out to the countryside for habitation will need to dig deep until they find a source from which they can reliably draw. Pope Benedict XVI gave this beautiful scriptural connection:
“Origen calls attention to how the motif of the well shapes the whole story of the Old Testament patriarchs. Wherever they went, they dug wells. Water is the element of life. The well thus increasingly becomes the symbol of life itself until at Jacob’s well Jesus reveals that he is the well of true life whom the thirst of humanity awaits.”
Note that Jesus not only quenches our thirst but can be a well from within through baptism. After Jesus had died on the cross, a soldier “pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” The water signifies the water of baptism, through which we are cleansed from sin and given new life in the Spirit. In John’s Gospel, Jesus explained it this way to the Samaritan woman at the well:
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water … Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Through our baptism and ongoing spiritual life, the Lord will continue to water us daily. Consider the lushness we see in Minnesota summers when there’s been ample rain. When my niece from California came for a visit a couple of years back, she exclaimed on our drive through a nature preserve to a nearby lake, “I’ve never seen so many kinds of green!” When we allow the Holy Spirit to water our soul, we too can flourish like the nature that surrounds us.
We know our summers here are short but unlike any other place; not unlike our encounters with God. So, as we make time to enjoy our many lakes and rivers this summer, let’s also make time to appreciate the Lord’s word to us in both creation and in Scripture. As we soak in the warmth of his sun, let’s offer him the warmth of our prayers of thanksgiving. As we breathe in the fresh air and try to relax, let’s entrust our burdens to him. Let’s remember his presence with us as we sit by the shore or take in the sunrise or sunset. As we breathe the lovely smell of wildflowers, cut grass, and wind over the waters, let’s also pray that we might breathe in the Holy Spirit and the love of our Lord. After all, this is his loving will for us, as expressed in Psalm 23:
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want;
he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.”
A wife and mother, Catholic speaker and writer, Jendro teaches theology at Providence Academy in Plymouth and is a member of St. Thomas the Apostle in Corcoran. Follow her blog at taketimeforhim.com.
