Water Remembers Us

Our UU Water Communion celebrates the way we remember water and the times of our lives. Water also remembers us as we leave our mark upon it.


Water is one of the most important realities
     in our lives.

It can also be seen and used as
   a symbol and a metaphor.

For example, water moves along
   from higher to lower places
      as it makes progress
           from its source to its mouth
                 (in the case of rivers).

My last sermon was about progress
    as positive movement in our times and places.

Water's positive movement is downhill,
      so to speak. :-)

Water always seeks the lowest place
   as it is drawn downhill by gravity.

Yet it has the power to wear away mountains
    and dig the deepest canyons
         along the surface of the Earth.

As such, it is a fitting symbol and metaphor
    for the power of humility:
         seeking the lowest place
               and yet exercising
                     some of the greatest power
                           in our world.

Water also has memory in a sense.

As I speak of water's memory,
       I'm not speaking of homeopathy
             (in case you are familiar with that).

I'm also not disparaging homeopathy.

I'm just speaking of something
     much simpler and more verifiable than that.

As water travels
   from its source to its mouth in rivers,
      it picks up material along its way.

The dissolved and carried matter
   is the foundation of water's memory.

We contribute to the matter that water carries.

That's why I can say,
    "Water remembers us."

As the downhill movement of water on its way
   is a metaphor of humility,
      so the dissolved matter in water
          is a metaphor of memory.

Our relationship with water
   has its roots in the very depths of our being.

We are made up mostly of water,
   as is the surface of our planet.

Likewise, our relationship with water
   has a foundation in memory,
      our memory and the memory of the water itself.

We remember significant events related to water.

Baptism is one of those,
   and our UU Water Communion is another.

We remember occasions
   where water played an important part
       in our experiences.

Maybe we went swimming or boating with friends.

Maybe we crossed a waterway on a ferry or bridge.

There are so many possibilities
   that I won't even attempt to list them.

Likewise, memory, in terms of carried particles of us,
    is a way of thinking of water
        as it relates to us.

I find the concept useful
    because it's a way to picture
        what we do with water.

We cannot avoid leaving our mark upon it.

It's so much a part of us and our world,
     and we're so much a part of the worlds of water
         that we can't help creating a relationship.

As the saying goes, and it's a true one,
   "Someday you will be a memory
          to the people around you.
              Do your best to make that memory
                    a good one!"

Likewise with the water
    that is essential to our lives.

The water will carry away a memory of us.

We can do our best
     to make that memory a good one.

We can send the water on its way
    in healthier condition for other living things
        than it was when it first came to us.

Or ... we can leave it in worse condition.

Lake Coeur D'Alene carries significant memories
   of the mining that was an important part
      of the economy of North Idaho
          in years past.

Its condition is getting worse rather than better.

There are people in our part of the world, 
      who are working to improve our relationships
         with the waters of Lake Coeur D'Alene.

We can share in those efforts.

The Governor of Idaho has ordered a review
    of the science around the Lake's condition
       and the cleanup.

Our Lake is part of
     the federal Superfund cleanup site,
         but at present its cleanup
             does not receive Superfund money.

(Thanks to Turns East for calling my attention
     to this highly relevant information
          as reported last Thursday 
               in the Spokesman Review.)

Another of the important memories of us
    in the waters of our world
          is the plastics in the ocean.

Already there is so much
     of the plastics we have made
          present in the waters of the sea
               that they are poisoning sea creatures.

Enterprising people have begun to clean up
                  the waters of the sea.

Cleaning the waters that carry bad memories of us
     requires a lot of thought and energy.

First and foremost, we have to care about it!

Not caring about the water
   upon which we all depend
       is suicidal behavior
           on the part of any human being.

Likewise, caring about the water
    in effective, forward moving ways
        is life preserving for us all
             and for all the creatures
                  on land and in the sea
                      with whom we share our Earth.

Caring for the water upon which we all depend
    will be more and more costly as time goes by.

But not caring for it will be even more costly.

Too much horrible stewardship has been done
     and continues to be done
          in our relationship with water.

There is a lot of bad memory of water
     in our own hearts and minds
          as the result of bad stewardship
              in the past and the present
                 for there to be any hope
                     of our evading its consequences.

It's not too late,
    but we can see the endgame ahead of us
        from where we are now.

For a number of years,
    futurists have made the prediction
         that water will be the oil
               of the 21st Century
                   and times beyond.

In other words,
    as oil was the resource we sought
       and fought for
           in the previous century,
                so will water be in the future.

As such, we are being called
     to consider the future availability of water
           for all living things.

We will have to avoid the kind of thinking
    that led the former CEO of Nestle
        (a company that bottles and sells water)
             to say that the idea that
                  water is a human right
                       is an extreme position.

That kind of attitude would likely reinforce
     the great extinction of life on our planet
           that is already underway.

The outcry against such an attitude
   has already made a difference
       as Nestle has tried to clarify their position
           and to be much less extreme themselves.

We can still counteract such attitudes,
     but we will have to do so by actions
          as well as words.

We will have to think about
     the water we depend on,
         the way we use it
            and the way we send it on its way.

We cannot consider only our own needs and desires.

We have to think of each other
     and of all life
          if we are to survive together.

In terms of water
    as in terms of all other things
           we can never again look
                only to the meeting  of our own needs.

Thinking in terms of today's metaphor
     of water remembering us
            can help us to look beyond our own needs.

If we think of the water itself
      as carrying a memory of us with it,

If we consider whether we make it
        a good memory or a bad one,

We can help ourselves account for
     our own relationship to the water we depend on
           along with every living thing in the world.

Water remembers us,
     and we can remember it
          in everything we do
              in our relationship with it.

Amen
So Mote it Be
Blessed Be!