We were in the middle of the wilderness of the San Gabriel mountains, weighed down by 50-pound backpacks, hiking ten miles to our campsite. I was a few paces behind my partner Steven, and was focusing on the swollen, oversized pack that obscured most of his body from my view. Why were our bags so heavy and massive? Although we were carrying our backpacking tent, sleeping bags, and freeze-dried food, those items were all light and compressed. The real clunker in both weight and size was the gallons of water that we lugged along with us. Focusing on this burden, I began daydreaming about humans throughout history, heaving water with them into the wilderness. It's an interesting concept. We are hauling this weight externally so that we can slowly consume it internally and continue to survive. It isn't easy or convenient, but it is necessary, because water is the source of life.
Here in California, we are frantically focusing on water amidst a historic draught, and desperately determining who is to blame. Many are turning on the farmers, as agriculture makes up an astounding 80% of Californian public water use; almond and pistachios farms, in particular, are coming under fire for their notoriously water-intensive crops, which are largely exported to other countries; Kern Valley producers are raising concerns over their experimentation with oil wastewater; and heedless drilling for groundwater by agribusiness is outraging citizens who are abiding by restrictions in their cities. Others are turning on southern California suburbanites with sprawling lawns. And still others point to the oil fracking industry which guzzled up 70 million gallons in its risky activities last year.
As citizens, it is crucial for us to be informed about the water crisis and advocate for a more fair distribution of this natural resource. As Christians, we know that water is sacred, which takes this crisis beyond a logistical and political problem to a spiritual one. In the creation stories, water exists before any other element. In Noah's tale, water cleanses the whole planet. Moses, who was carried by water as a child, was able to rely on water as a way to save his people. John the Baptist used it as a purifying and holy element. Water is woven throughout our holy scriptures, mentioned over 700 times in the Bible. And it plays a significant role in our liturgies and traditions. If there is one aspect of environmental preservation that all Christians should agree upon, it is surely this clean, pure, delicious, nutritious, life-giving element. Overusing and wasting water is a violation of it's sacredness. Christians should not need to be told to preserve and value it by lawmakers. We have ancient spiritual resources that tell us to value water and keep it pure... so water we waiting for?
Drinking up the source of life,
Sean Patrick Coady
Associate Director