I spend a lot of time in the water. Having been a competitive swimmer since the age of 12, and a lovable pool tycoon in my younger days, I have probably logged a number in the thousands of aquatic hours.
I love my aqueous home, though, even if I occasionally spend more time there than I care to admit. In my life, dihydrogen monoxide carries a lot of weight.
What I have been focusing on of late is the spiritual and symbolic side of this sacred compound on our planet. Not only is it life giving, but it represents cleansing, through baptism and the ritual purification in the Old Testament. It snakes into the cracks and the crevices that we cannot even dare to reach and scrubs away our impurities. Water also means chaos, something only that God can control, such as when he separated the waters and created sky and sea (the Hebrews thought that the blue sky held water above. While science found this view to be misguided, one can still appreciate the idea that life was carved out between the waters). Likewise, it was God that let the watery-chaos flow and cleanse the wicked earth.
From science, we learn that water has compounds dissolved inside within it (it is known as the universal solvent, after all). These compounds disassociate into ions, which are charged particles. This ‘electrified’ water is how we live! When/if we are baptized, not only is the old life washed away, but by the same symbolism, the new life is electrified and shocked into a new existence of Christian love and service.
Oh the thoughts that can run through one’s mind on a rainy evening.
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