"We're Made Mostly of Water"

I enjoyed an interesting devotional experience this morning. I did my usual - walking the dog, reading the Upper Room meditation for the day - then I listened to a song my friend Gary sent via facebook. The song - "Water Song" by Colin Hay - was excellent, thoughtful; full with poignant, poetic truth.

I didn't listen intently to the words (I'll have to get back to the song later), but one idea - repeated several times - referenced our bio-chemical make-up as people: "They say we're made mostly of water; so how come we can't find the sea?" Hay goes on to ask the question "How blind can we be?" Then, later, "Oh, how I wish we were like water.."

I knew about the "we're mostly made of water thing" - it's around 60%. But listening to the song made me think about baptism; putting the two together adds a powerful twist to the symbolism. I'm guessing ancient peoples didn't actually know how much of a human being is made of water... yet baptism was chosen as this symbol representing the New Covenant introduced by Jesus.

Some Christians make a big deal over immersion versus sprinkling, pouring or other variations. But that misses the point. Baptism represents our participation in this covenant. Water turns out to be what we're mostly made of; and it's a powerful symbol for the opportunity we have to flow, spiritually, into the great ocean of God's love.

The song also made me think of "pouring," another strong image from scripture. My Sunday evening group took a look at the first 11 verses of Romans 5 yesterday evening. It's the passage Rebekah preached from when the church met for worship in the morning, and the thoughts are so rich we wanted to take another look in our small group. Here's the particular verse I thought about in terms of the fact that we're made mostly of water - "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

So here I am, mostly water. I have been baptized. I am a part of The Church Universal, a covenant community that claims the promise of New Life. I'm involved in a local faith community, a church that embraces promise on a daily basis; it's here that I experience both pouring and flowing, like water into the ocean. Then today, this morning, each new day, I get to understand in some fresh way the ongoing truth that God is pouring out his love into my heart.

Here's a good chunk of the Romans 5 passage. It's really the best that I can pass on to you this Monday, this hope-filled morning.

Peace and blessings - DEREK

• Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:1-5)