Water Communion 

Memory, Communion, and Community 

We remember together and so we share Communion and build the Beloved Community. 

Every human being  is in Communion with water 

  all the time. 

Our bodies are made mostly of water. 

As you may know already, 

  I'm a fan of science fiction, as was our dear Beth. 

In one of the shows 

  of Star Trek the Next Generation, 

    a terraforming crew on a desert planet 

      is falling behind schedule. 

Their problem was a life form based on silicon 

  instead of the carbon that we are based on.

The terraformers  were unable to recognize 

  the silicon based life form as a living species. 

Somehow as the story proceeded, 

  the silicon based life form developed the ability 

    to communicate with the humans. 

Their first words to the humans were, 

  "Ugly. Giant. Bags. Of mostly water." 

That wasn't very complimentary, 

  but it was true, as far as it goes. 

We are made mostly of water, 

  and the water is held in a flexible container, 

    also known as skin. 

So we are bags of mostly water. 

I guess we would be ugly 

  to a life form based on crystals of silicon. 

Recent studies have shown 

  that silicon based life forms 

    may not actually be possible 

      in our universe, 

But the science fiction story still gives us a paradigm 

  for understanding ourselves 

    as a carbon based life form 

      whose bodies are composed of mostly water. 

My concept is to highlight our intimate relationship 

  with the water 

    that forms most of the surface of our planet. 

Hence I say, again, 

  that all of us are in full Communion with water 

    all the time. 

MOST of the time 

  our full Communion with water is a good thing. 

Like many of our most important relationships, 

  especially with the world of nature, 

    we cannot take that positive quality for granted. 

As we saw near the end of last month, 

  our relationship with water can turn suddenly 

    catastrophically harmful, 

      as with a hurricane or two. 

I'm one of those who believe 

  that nature is giving us all a warning. 

We are in fact a part of nature, 

  and so we are as truly subject to Her laws 

    as any living thing. 

We have tried to live as a dominant species 

  for far too long. 

We absolutely cannot continue to do so. 

If we try, we will not harm nature Herself. 

We will certainly harm ourselves, 

  and we could destroy ourselves. 

The Book of Revelation 

  and other collections of Apocalyptic Literature 

    contain fearsome descriptions 

      of what could happen 

        if we continue down the wrong path. 

I've often said, 

  "Don't worry about the Book of Revelation 

    unless you start to understand it!" 

Well, I'm sorry to say, 2020 appears to be a year 

  in which all too many people, 

    especially the most vulnerable people, 

      are starting to understand 

        what the word Apocalypse 

          And the book of Revelation really mean. 

Still and all, 

  it's not too late. 

We can still get out of the way 

  of many of the dangers that are all around us. 

We can still repair our relationship 

  with the natural world. 

We can recognize our Communion with nature, 

  including, and today especially, 

    our Communion with Water. 

Our worship service, based on Water Communion 

  is thus deeply rooted 

    in our relationship with nature, 

      and so much of human spirituality

        is likewise deeply rooted in the natural world. 

In fact, our UU spirituality in general has deep roots 

  in the natural world. 

Our whole service today 

  is based on Earth-Centered spirituality. 

Indeed, Earth-Centered spirituality 

  is one of the most important forms 

    of UU spirituality, 

      listed among the 6 sources 

        of our unbounded spirituality, the 

          Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions 

            which celebrate the sacred circle of life 

              and instruct us to live in harmony 

                with the rhythms of nature. 

Two of the great mentors and spiritual leaders 

  of Unitarian Universalism in the U.S., 

    Thoreau and Emerson, 

      were both steeped in the spirituality of nature, 

        each in his own way. 

Thoreau was perhaps best known 

  for his relationship with Walden Pond, 

    a body of water that was formative 

      in his own development 

        of a kind of Water Communion. 

Emerson wrote a book entitled Nature 

  in which may be found the wonderful quote, 

    "The happiest person is one 

      who learns from nature the lesson of worship." 

Today we are again learning from nature 

  the lesson of worship 

    as we share in a particularly UU rite, 

      the Water Communion. 

Most of us find 

  deeply personal spiritual recharging 

    in the world of nature. 

Bodies of water are often sources 

  of the unique kind of spiritual recharging 

    that are just what we need when we need it. 

That's why we love to going to a beach 

  or walking alongside a lake 

    or sitting quitely beside a pond or a stream. 

I love the sound of rushing water 

  like rapids or waterfalls 

    as they sing to my soul. 

It's no surprise, therefore, 

  that we share in our Water Communion 

    as we share a little of the water 

      that has meant so much to us 

        in the last year. 

In this way we remember 

  Meaningful events from the last year 

    And we deepen our Communication 

      And our communication with each other. 

In this strange year of 2020, 

  with so much in a kind of suspension, 

    maybe we can focus 

      on our relationship with water

        as something to help us restore 

          a feeling of being connected 

            to the world of nature

              and to each other. 

As we deepen our sense of Communion 

  With nature and with each other 

    We can begin to reconcile with each other 

      Despite the differences between us. 

I have many of my own holy places, 

  and most of them are closely related to water. 

One of those closest to me and to my home 

  is a catchment pond 

    for excessive rain water 

      where lots of lovely cattails grow. 

Because of the pandemic, 

  I don't often get to walk around or sit beside 

    some of my favorite sources of water communion, 

      so I'm especially grateful for the cattails 

        and their pond. 

The water I'm bringing today is from them, 

  even though at this time of year, 

    it's more mud than water. 

As UU's we remember our communion with water 

  not only today with our water communion. 

The water we drink, 

  wash with or wash in, 

    the water that brings us renewal

      of body, soul, and spirit

        can remind us of our communion with water 

          and with each other. 

Water can also remind us 

  of the importance of social justice. 

Fresh, clean, health-giving, life-giving water 

  can be extremely hard to come by 

    for many people on our small planet. 

This situation is not likely to get better 

  in the near future

    as climate change continues. 

I subscribe to the theory 

  that water will be the oil of the future, 

    that is, the scarce resource 

      over which people all over our small planet 

        will struggle. 

It will be come to be the sign 

  of our willingness to care for each other 

    or not. 

As such, 

  water will not only illustrate, 

    it will also embody 

      our communion with each other. 

The question we must all ask 

  as we are in communion with water, 

    "Will we be in communion with each other?" 

I deeply hope, and I invoke that hope 

  that our collective answer 

    will be a resounding, "Yes!" 

Amen 

Ameen 

Omeyn 

So mote it be