By Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle
“WATER ACQUIRED”. The first text came from Bobcaygeon, it wouldn’t be the last.
Over the summer, parishioners were encouraged to collect water from places that are meaningful to them. During the Season of Creation, from Sept. 6 through Thanksgiving, time was provided during worship for folks to bring up the water and share where it was from and why it is special.
The bottle from Bobcaygeon arrived with shared memories of grandparents who had rented a cottage in the area and summer visits. There are several samples from various areas around Lake Huron, with fond memories of cottages and camping with family and friends. There is a sample from Barrie Island from someone who has a cottage there. One couple brought a sample from the Ottawa River after spending cherished time with family that included white water rafting. Another individual brought a sample from as far away as a cottage at PEI. My sample came from Rondeau Park, collected on a visit where memories flooded back of my summer at Grace Church just prior to my ordination.
There is a sample of water from the Colorado River. “Its clean enough to drink,” the parishioner shared. It is from a spot where the water flows freely over a waterfall. According to the parishioner, the water tastes better than what we get from our tap. Another sample is from Lake Ontario, taken shortly after a certain individual tried to suggest a name change. When the friends decided to detour for the water, it created a meaningful conversation not only between the friends but with others in earshot. The simple invitation to reflect on water within the congregation grew beyond it.
Water is all around us and impacts us everyday. Water doesn’t have to flow from rivers and lakes to be meaningful. Water also arrived from the hospital. It seems fitting. After all, new life was welcomed into the world this summer. One way to symbolise that journey was to bring water from when that new life took that first breath.
Of course, the hockey loving parishioner opted to bring in some ice, a wonderful reminder of a great Canadian game and the fact that water takes many forms. We know this well and experience this in our seasons. And the golf lover in our midst brought water from a golf course with the recognition that, as one who has mowed the lawn on midnights, they have borne witness to the ecosystem fed by the waters – including 50-year-old turtles, beaver, foxes, deer, and so much more. They also shared how these waters help the economy. After all, how many need to buy golf balls and clubs after loosing them in the water?
The wonderful stories, memories and meanings that connect each sample of water, one to the other, flow together into the ways we have explored water throughout the Season. This includes exploring the ancient stories of the Israelites’ journey from slavery in Egypt into the wilderness.
This is the wonder and gift of this year’s Season of Creation theme, Living Water, which recognises God’s gift as it flows throughout our lives and throughout history. Water is a finite resource. It is cycled and recycled across the millennia, as molecules formed and transformed through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. We are joined to one another in our stories, in our journeys, in and through water.
At St. Paul’s, this will be symbolised on Harvest Thanksgiving when the water collected will be poured together into the Baptismal font. All of the stories shared, all of the moments, all of the ways those gathered have been touched by and remembered our journeys with water will become part of our shared journey of faith. This shared water will be blessed and become the sign of the renewal of our baptismal commitment. In these waters we remember that our journeys, our stories are far more than we can ask or imagine, and this is what makes our Baptismal commitment so important.
The choices we make, the vows we make as Baptismal people around the Living Water are our challenges to live responsibly in ways that are respectful and reciprocal of all of God’s Beloved Creation, all of God’s Gifts, to water and to each other. In every drop of Living Water may we know God’s gifts and honour these gifts today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.
Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle is a co-chair of SEJH.