Annual Water Communion

Today at FUS (First Unitarian Society) we celebrated the communion of water.  It was not only a celebration of the ways in which water connects all life on earth, but of the necessity of it in all our lives.  We are encouraged to collect water from our travels and bring it on this day to pour into large pottery jars at the front of the auditorium.  As each person pours their collected real (or virtual) water one of the ministers announces from where it came.  Today it was collected from the east, the south, the north, the west, and finally from our center here in Wisconsin.  Near the end of the service we are invited to take some of this co-mingled water home with us with a message of warning.  This water comes from places all over the world and contains all sorts of bacteria and microbes not found at our center.  If intending to use it to water a plant, drink, or in any way where it would have contact with other life, we are asked to boil it to purify it of anything which may cause harm to this life.  We all require water, but the water can also make us sick.  I chose not to take any water home with me, figuring I've boiled plenty of water in my time, and knowing that water remaining at the end of service would be boiled and used for the child dedications throughout the year.  Yep, we don't waste a drop at FUS.  Bring your child to us and we will gleefully pour some boiled water from who knows where on its head.  I find water to be intrinsically spirit-filled, so today's service was especially spiritually fulfilling for me.  Water -- a life source -- treat it as such.