Hello and welcome.
Today we are honoring an essential element that's sometimes synonymous with life itself,
And that element is water.
We are made up of mostly water and we share that with other living beings.
And without water,
We really couldn't survive more than a few days.
So water is something that we tend to take for granted because it's readily accessible to us coming out of our taps clean and ready to drink,
Which is such a gigantic gift and one which not all of the world enjoys.
And we use water and enjoy water in many other ways other than drinking.
We bathe in it,
We cook with it,
We water our food and our crops with it.
We use it for recreational purposes.
We like to boat on it,
Swim in it,
Kayak on it,
Just sit and enjoy the beauty of it in the form of oceans and rivers,
Ponds,
Lakes,
Glaciers,
Other forms other than liquid,
We can skate on it.
The water gives us so,
So many gifts above and beyond life itself.
So we pause today to honor and appreciate and connect with water.
So I invite you to close your eyes,
Taking one or two deep breaths as we drop into our meditation.
Calling into your mind's eye,
The image of water in whatever form comes to you,
It may be an ocean or a lake or a stream or something else,
But feeling deeply connected to some body of water,
Either real or imaginary.
Breathing in the gifts that this water gives to us,
Feeling it literally running through our bodies.
Honoring this element and all that it offers to us on a moment by moment and daily basis.
And as you sit honoring water,
I'll share a poem with you by Mary Oliver.
She says,
I don't know who God is exactly.
But I'll tell you this.
I was sitting in the river named Clarion on a water splashed stone.
And all afternoon I listened to the voices of the river talking.
Whenever the water struck a stone,
It had something to say.
And the water itself,
And even the mosses trailing under the water.
And slowly,
Very slowly,
It became clear to me what they were saying.
Said the river,
I am part of holiness.
And I am too,
Said the stone.
And I am too whispered the moss beneath the water.
I'd been to the river before a few times.
Don't blame the river that nothing happened quickly.
You don't hear such voices in an hour or a day.
You don't hear them at all if selfhood has stuffed your ears.
And it's difficult to hear anything anyway through all the traffic and the ambition.
So resting in your awareness,
Your connection with water,
Your appreciation of all of the gifts,
Including the gift of life itself that water offers to us.
And gently opening your eyes if they're closed.
And as you move through the rest of this day,
Taking moments to stop,
Maybe specifically when you're drinking or bathing or anytime you turn on the tap,
Honoring water,
Appreciating water and all of the gifts it has to give.
Maybe even taking a glass of water and just leaving it out to remind you of the gifts.
You can ask water if it has any messages for you,
Any teachings,
And see what might be there,
If anything.
So you receive gifts from the water and then you can send those gifts forth to share with others,
With other beings.
So letting your dance today be one with water.
And I thank you for being here,
For being engaged in this dance with the things that really matter.
And I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
Bye.
