Jessica's post is part of our Lenten Water Project. Throughout this Lenten season our writers will be focusing on the subject of water and what that means to them. Please donate to our well-building efforts, and if you have something YOU would like to say about water, let us know and we'll post it here!
Since I was a little girl I have entered church with the same ritual, dipping the tips of my fingers into a tiny metal bowl of holy water near the heavy wooden door of the sanctuary. I tap these wet fingers on my forehead, on the center of my chest, and on both shoulders; it is the sign of the cross. This practice, inherited from my Catholic tradition, reconnects me with the first Christian ritual I ever experienced—baptism.
It also engages the natural substance—water—that pervaded Jesus’ life. Jesus was baptized in water. Christ used it for miracles, using it for winemaking and walking on its waves. Jesus taught about living water.
Water is ubiquitous in my life and the Christian tradition, which is precisely why I find the season of Lent so startling. When I enter a Catholic sanctuary to pray or attend Sunday liturgy, I instinctively place my fingers into the tiny water bowl only to find it empty. Dry. During this forty-day liturgical season, the baptismal fount at the front of the church no longer hums with the trickle of clear, blessed water. It, too, is empty.
This is how we prepare for the annual remembrance of Christ’s suffering passion: we experience a little bit of life without the water that we take for granted most of the time. That way, come Easter Sunday when the baptismal founts are flowing and my finger tips are wet with Holy Water once again, I rejoice in the resurrection and the Water of Life with new gratitude.
When was the last time you were thirsty?
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Jessica Coblentz is currently pursuing a Master of Theological Studies degree at Harvard Divinity School. Her interests include Catholic theology, religious and cultural identity, and ritual studies. Follow her writing on the Web at www.jessicacoblentz.com.
Jessica- Thank you for your insightful and deeply moving piece! I was reminded as I read your article this morning, of going to Church with my dad growing up, he is Catholic. I hadn't thought about those church visits in quite some time. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe rhythms of our traditions keep us going in times when we cannot muster the will to go on, or at least I cling to them in times when I am thirsty.
I find myself more thirsty during certain seasons, getting a taste of the living water, and wanting to lap it up and roll in it. I tend to find myself in the stillness and quiet of lent needing that water more than ever before or at least I need to be reminded of it. Waiting, discerning, and being in quiet are all hard things for me. When I get a taste or even a glimpse I long for it.
In the midst of the lenton season, thank you for a reminder of the living water, that has claimed us and continues to sustain us; even when that water is not found in familiar places.
Lent is a wonderful time for us to shake up faith and our 'Church Experience'. Thank you... Living Water, indeed!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.
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