Water

Yesterday, when I returned home from an appointment, my neighbor, Sylvia, hollered at me and asked if we had water. Sylvia is an integral part of our little corner of the world because she knows almost everything going on. You would think that would be a negative, but most of us depend on her to keep us informed.

Anyway, having just gotten home, I replied that I didn’t know whether we had water.  She told me she had heard from several neighbors that they didn’t have water. I remember joking that I would be fine because I had already showered for the day.

I got in the house and, sure enough, no water. I checked the water municipality’s website and there was a statement that the water main was being worked on and we would be without water until about 2 p.m. (it was about 10 a.m.). I told my wife of the situation, but I still thought it would be no big deal, with only 4 hours to go.

My wife asked what we should do if we needed to go to the bathroom. I replied that we each had one flash between our two bathrooms. Me, being a male and living in a more rural area, had already figured I could urinate out behind a bush if need be.

That’s when the unanticipated impacts started. Sure, we had the bathroom situation somewhat handled, but I had no way to wash my hands. Ok, we had some Clorox wipes that sufficed. By then, I was thinking about lunch and decided on making BLTs.  It was after I cut the tomatoes that the issue of not being able to wash my hands popped up again. Back to the wipes I went.   

Then, my wife wanted something to drink and realized her choices were limited to prepared items such as soda or a hot beverage since our tea kettle still had water in it. 

Finally, 2 p.m. rolled around, but still there was no water coming from the tap. I checked the website again to find a new notice that said the water was in the process of being restored and we could experience limited flow until 5 p.m. A half hour or so later, a small stream came out of the faucet.  An hour later, the water was restored.

From my perspective, we were without water for about 5 hours. I started imagining what I would do if it had been longer. Certainly, I could have driven to someplace like McDonald's, bought a soda and used their bathroom. I could have even reached out to one of you to see if I could have used your facilities. But that would only work if the outage was limited. If the outage was widespread, we have a certain amount of stored water in our house and, realistically, we have a pool with over 20,000 gallons of water available in an extreme emergency.

I read somewhere that the average life of an adult has improved from about 50 at the end of the 19th century to just under 80 today. A big part of that improvement can be attributed to a few things, such as the development of antibiotics, childhood immunization and public sanitation (sewer systems and municipal water systems).  When we look at the world today, having water and electricity available to us is considered a necessity not unlike food and shelter.

“All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.’ And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” - Exodus 17:1-7 ESV

The focus of my day is much different from the Israelites in the desert. I don’t worry about having enough water to do my daily duties and to survive. I depend on turning on my faucet and having clean water come out. Being a nomad in the desert would be a much different lifestyle. So, from that perspective, I understand the Israelites' concern about having no access to water.  However, after witnessing God’s intercession to get them there (the plagues, parting the Red Sea, the manna from heaven, etc.), I wonder why they worried at all.

Unfortunately, I start to wonder why I worry about all the things I worry about? Why don’t I have faith that God will provide?  I guess when it comes down to it, the same sinful weakness the Israelites experienced in the wilderness is what I deal with every day.