The waters burst forth. The waves towered, then quieted. The waves were breaking, and the boat was almost swamped. This Sunday’s readings swirl around the theme of water – specifically, the power that water has to overcome and destroy, clean and refresh. We humans have a very intimate relationship to water: we are born from the waters in our mother’s womb, and over half of our bodies consist of water. Water has the sacramental ability to wash us clean (both spiritually and physically), but can also engulf us and plunge us into the depths, as the psalmist proclaims. Water has the power to give life and to take it away. What wonders in the deep!

Despite the vital importance of water to the natural world, human societies have repeatedly polluted and degraded water sources for economic gain. Christian eco-feminist theologians have long made the connection between the way that humans treat the earth (and its waters) and the way that society treats vulnerable bodies, particularly the bodies of women. Eco-feminists observe that the current system of domination that exploits the environment is the same one responsible for the violence done to women’s bodies. 

In her famous book New Woman/New Earth, theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether warns that “there can be no liberation for women and no solution to the ecological crisis within a society whose fundamental model of relationship is one of patriarchal domination.” Patriarchy, or literally, “rule of the father,” is a system of domination that has historically valued men as more superior, powerful, and worthy of human dignity than women. Under this system of control, women and their bodies are treated as property, and subjected to persistent violence and manipulation. So, too, is the body of the Earth torn apart, drilled, soiled, and raped for individual profit. It is not a coincidence that lack of access to potable water disproportionately affects women and children living in developing countries, who are primarily responsible for water collection. In other words, it’s all connected.

As long as these systems of oppression continue, the body of the Earth, its waters, and the bodies of women will collectively groan in despair. In today’s readings, we see that God the Creator works in and through the waters. In the midst of a mighty storm, YHWH said to Job that the sea itself “burst forth from [God’s] womb,” and that God “drew limits around the waters and locked the partitions in place.” In the psalm, God’s people cried out in anguish for their lives, and God “reduced the storm to a whisper, quieting the waves.” Finally, in the Gospel story, Jesus was in a boat with his disciples when suddenly a vicious storm came upon them. Upon awakening at the urging of his terrified followers, Jesus commanded the wind and the sea to quiet and be calm. God’s spirit is clearly at work in the waters of creation. So what does this mean for the way that we treat bodies of water, and vulnerable people, today?

Water Ritual 

The ritual of libation has its origins in many religious traditions, including those of ancient Greece, Egypt, and Israel. For this ritual, the pouring of water onto the Earth will be done in remembrance of ancestors, and as a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the gifts of creation.

Fill a bottle with water, and find a place outside to stand (preferably on soil or grass). After each verse, pour some of the water out onto the land.

Mother God, we thank you for the gifts of your creation–
for the water that refreshes us, (pour)
the air that fills our lungs, (pour)
and the fruits of the land that nourish us. (pour)
Sister Spirit, we honor those women who have labored in order to bring us life–
Our grandmothers and mothers, (pour)
The women who supported the struggles for liberation throughout history, (pour)
And those spiritual mothers that we name aloud now: _____. (pour for each name)
Jesus, the Liberator, guide us as we navigate the storms of life–
As we fight for justice alongside the vulnerable and oppressed,
And model the radical love that you did to bring forth a new creation.

Amen.

Against a colorful background a person with brown skin wearing a headscarf and an orange top holds a silver bowl in one hand, guiding a child’s mouth to the water within. On each side are children.