Water, Water, Everywhere.

Sermon Psalm 24:1&2; Psalm 65; John 7:37-39 August 29, 2015 Presbyterian Women Women Between the Waters Gathering

Water, Water, Everywhere.

When I moved here last year-yes I am a come here-I spent the first few months exploring the roads and ways around the area. Did you know it’s very hard to get lost on the Eastern Shore? As a matter of fact this is how I learned the truth of the meaning, “Water, water, everywhere”. Yes, no matter what road I went down or which curve I followed, I ended up facing the sea or the bay.

You know how it is on a peninsula that is about as wide as your pencil-surrounded by water on all sides.

Now this entrapment by the water for some is a dream come true.

Knowing that at each turn of the head the beauty of waves, ripples, tides and the flow of creeks are there and everywhere and they bring wonder and awe and a sense of completion.

 

Welcome Women Between the Waters painted by local artist Marshall Ryon

Yet, for some this embrace of creation is a reminder of isolation, loneliness, and the harshness of life.

The harshness is not just the fact that your best shopping deals happen at Family Dollar. Or that stores like Target, JC Penney, or PetsSmart, are 60 miles away. Or the fact that there are only 45,000 people who live here, or that jobs are few and hard to come by…

The realities sometimes buffet our existence the same as the winds and waves of the storms.

Yet, living with our lives surrounded by water draws us closer to God’s creation. Living surrounded by water reminds us of the essentials of life on the Shore.

We are reminded of the Word of God and how “The Spirit of moved over the face of the waters.”

The Spirit of God still moves over the waters, over, under, in, through, and as the Spirit moves all of creation comes alive.

Even in creation when God said, ‘let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures’…we are witnesses everyday to this creation story as we comb for seashells and find footprints in the sand.

We are also witnesses to the power of water and wind as we have braced for hurricanes, tornados, floods over the years. These storms we know well will always be a part of Shore life.

As women we are more than witnesses, we have more than stories to share.

Women of the Shore have courage and compassion to share.

They have connections and curiosity to offer.

Yes, women of the Shore need each other.

When the storms clouds come and the waves begin to crash in we need each other to turn to,

we are not a people in isolation,

but a people drawn together to lift up

and give aid where and when needed.

When I imagine women working together

through tough times

and I view

our marvelous peninsular,

I find myself,

embraced

and surrounded by the waters,

wrapped in a large prayer shawl,

as they sustain us and hold us all together.

We are women of faith!

The waters remind us over and over again of the source of life. And as Jesus stood at the festival and said ‘if anyone is thirsty let him come to me’ and let the one who believes in me drink. For out of the believers heart will flow rivers of living water.

We have the source of living water within us through Christ. And the water doesn’t just flow forth from us it gushes.

It cannot be contained

and it is filled with energy

and it touches everything

and everyone in its path.

Consider this gift we have of life poured upon by the Spirit and life flowing from us. May we receive and may we give.

Water, water everywhere, wonderful life, be embraced, be part of it, share it, live it and rejoice. Amen.