Dear Ones,

After last Sunday’s Water Ceremony, I was asked if I could publish the meditation created by everyone’s writings on water, which was read as we poured our waters into the common bowl. Someone else suggested it could be my column this week.

I am delighted to offer those words here! Thank you, everyone who participated in this year’s water service. It is always a special service.

Blessings,
Rev. Lori Hlaban

UUFB Water Ceremony 2019 – Water Words and Wisdom

Water is holy. Water is pure. Water is gentle, yet it holds the power to wash away mountains. Bring your sorrows to the water and watch them be eroded away.

My ancestral waters, Lewis Brook and Lake, newly found in Harriman, NY.

I love the feel of putting cool water over my face/hair when I’m hot. I love to watch the waves of the ocean flowing in and out, the rhythm it creates is entrancing.

My water comes metaphorically from the Pacific Ocean, wild and cold, and from Hunting Island State Park, gentle and warm, both giving life to whales, baby sea turtles, and us. We are united by our need for and reverence for its elemental power.

You just don’t realize how essential water is – until you don’t have it.

Living near water is good for my spirit.

The luxury of clean bottled water and tub full for flushing if needed.

Water: May there be enough for all, yet not too much to create destruction.

Water has brought me stability.

My water is a small token of the water I wish for those without sufficient water – my heart aches for them.

Lying on my back, floating with eyes closed and hear the water lap on around me. What a day.

…I believe that every moment of this life is Holy. Each morning’s shower or bath, a float in the river, or a swim in the ocean can be like baptism and begin the next blessed moment in this life.

The waves of the sea, nourishment for the body – hydration.

The water I poured was brought to me by Hurricane Dorian – such a blessing that Dorian did not devastate the Lowcountry. Water can destroy as well as it usually nurtures us.

The waters of Beaufort brought great joy and peace to my daughters. I can see them there yet today.

Clean water to drink is usually a delicate balance of human efforts.

Water is the essence of life.

As water is neither created nor destroyed, all water, over eons, has been everywhere on Earth many times. My water is from the Bay of Fundy.

Water from a waterfall in Bavaria, a reminder of its beauty everywhere.

The gurgling sound of Culp Creek soothes the mind and soul. From a trickle in the dry season to rushing creek in spring rains, in western N.C.

Water is life. Whenever scientists search other planets for life, they look for signs of water. Water is love. Happy or sad, tears show love. Water is…?

Peace like a River flows.

I miss the water from my home in NY, from my well and free.

For a month this summer Ocean Beach in San Francisco was a short walk from our rented apartment. We walked the beach often – morning, evening, high tide and low, fog (lots of fog) and sun – always at the edge of the sea, feeling the water of the vast Pacific – the water of life – in our toes – connected to our primordial past.

Beauty and power of ancient seas: the calm Atlantic here, and the wild, rocky shore of the Pacific Northwest.

Water from my hot water heater which ruptured on Monday (the day of evacuation).

Water from Chautauqua Lake whose waters formed many days of joy for my children – swimming, sailing, ice skating – time together celebrating pleasures on and in lake waters.

Water floats our second home and nourishes the plants that contribute to human existence.

Left home for a new start, better life, but could not forget the warmth of the waters near home.

The water from the Beaufort River, cold and churned up from experiencing the hurricane.

Love the Water!