Water Practice 3: Connect water with your senses

Take time to connect to water with your senses.

We all know how much a part of our life and faith water is if we really take time to think about it. The trouble is that we rarely spend time thinking about it. Most of us take water for granted more in a day than we really appreciate water in a year.

During a time in your day when you are using water—bathing, washing hands, washing dishes, washing your face, when you’re out in the rain—pay attention to the feel of water on your body. As you do that, consider a verse from scripture that refers to water, for instance:

- In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

-As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, my God. (Psalm 42)

-The woman said to Jesus, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." (John 4:15)

-For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. (Mark 9:41)

Water Practice 2: Use only what you need

It is so easy to leave a faucet running. When we are rinsing dishes or getting ready for a shower, we let it go and lose track of time. It is time consuming to keep turning the faucet on and off, and there is plenty of water, so why does it matter?

I refer back to times when I have had a finite amount of water, and I had to really take seriously how much I used. I realized I didn’t need as much water for cleaning as I thought. I thought of all the times I left a faucet running, while I did other things, and it seemed so wasteful and arrogant to let it go that way just because I could.

I think of the people all over the world who must walk miles to get all the water they will use in a given day and carry it back on their heads. I think of how they would look at me running my water for no good reason.

Then, if we feel this way, how must God look at us wasting these gifts? Is water any less important to me than it is to the one who must walk miles to get it? Not really. If this were true to me every day, how would I act about that? Would I let it run down the drain while I walked off to get more plates, or would I ration out only what I needed like I did when I was in the woods with limited water?

What actions would best tell God, “I am so thankful for this life-giving water. I realize how important this blessing you give me is.” This is a way of giving thanks—to treat these gifts with the importance they deserve.

Water Practice 1: Collect Water for Use

We let so much water that could be used around the house wash away.

Take some time to consider all the water that is lost down the drain or into the ground in your house. For instance, water runs down the drain when you are waiting for the hot water heater to kick in. You could let that water run into a bowl, pitcher, or watering can to use later. This can be used to water plants or rinse dishes waiting to be washed. You can also set up a rain barrel or bucket to catch some of the water that falls from the sky. You, of course, would not drink this water, but you can use it to flush your toilets. This cuts down on the amount pumped from your well or city water. This could save you money, but that’s not all.

I’ve found that these practices slow me down and focus me on these simple tasks. When I do that, it clears my mind and helps me appreciate simple things. This calls me to prayer. These acts certainly take more time, but I feel a closeness to God while I do them, and I am more thankful for this basic necessity of life.

So, collect some of this water, and when you do that extra work it will inevitably create, make it into a prayer of thanks.

Water

We get references throughout the Bible to water. It makes sense for the biblical writers to compare things to water—everyone on earth knows it and uses it just about every day. Water is a huge part of every human’s life, whether you realize it or not. Sadly, for many of us, we don’t respect water as one of the most important elements to life.

Think about how many parts of your daily life depend on water: quenching thirst, bathing yourself, using the bathroom, brushing your teeth, washing your hands, cleaning your dishes, and washing your clothes—just think of what it would be like to do without all of that for even a day, when you really need it.

In this part of the world, though, water is plentiful, and we rarely get close to running out. When you have so much, it’s easy to overuse something. So, we leave our sinks on, we take hour long showers, and we pay no attention to our leaky faucets.

I was backpacking with a group of youth, miles into the woods of Nathan Bedford Forest State Park. The shelter where we were sleeping was nowhere near a water source, so a group of us had to hike several miles to a creek to filter water. We were all out of water from drinking, cooking, and cleaning over the past day. As we walked farther and farther, we grew more and more tired. I was so worn out and just wanted a large gulp of water. We were next to Kentucky Lake for part of our walk, and I even considered drinking some of that filthy river water. It was such a relief finally getting to our water source, filtering that water, and getting to wet our throats.

I remember one of the youth on the trip saying, "I never realized how important water is and how much I waste it. When we get back, I’m not going to waste so much water."

When you are out on the trail and only have so much water with you, you have to treat it with great importance. When you are back in the world of running water, piped into your home, it’s harder to see it with so much reverence. But, water deserves our reverence still, doesn’t it? Isn’t it still one of the most important elements in our life?

If we find more time in our daily routine to pay respect to water, even if it is just finding ways to use less of it, it can really make us more thankful people. If we thank God for these gifts more regularly, we are in closer communion with the one who made us.