The best spiritual book about water I know is called “The Secret Knowledge of Water” by Craig Childs (please let me know if you know of others). It’s all about finding water in the hottest, most dangerous deserts in the US. I love this line in the Introduction: “There are two easy ways to die in the desert: thirst or drowning.” You either can’t find water when you need it, or you get too much of it in a flash flood at the hottest time of year, when you are least expecting it.

It’s hard not to compare this thought with two of the most tragic events of the last week: Hurricane Dorian wrecking the Bahamas and the fire on the dive boat Concepcion, off the coast of Ventura. How can Earth’s most unique element be so lethal and necessary for life at the same time?

That’s nature – the sacred nature of the four elements: water, air, earth, and fire all do marvelous things for life and can also turn on life. How can we show more reverence for this elemental spirituality?

This Sunday, we will do so through our annual ritual of The Gathering of the Waters, also known as Water Communion. You’re invited to bring water from your travels over the summer in a vial or jar (or “proxy water” from your tap that represents that water) and we will pour them all together in a ritual of homecoming, belonging, and reverent recognition of the element that sustains life, and symbolizes the sustenance of what binds us together as a religious community.

See you Sunday!

Rev. Hannah