This, Our Valley: When you’re thirsty, go for the gusto

"He turned the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into flowing springs."  Psalm 107:35

I am not a water drinker. I drink water if it has first been heated up and dribbled through coffee grounds and a filter. Sometimes I’ll change things up and drink boiling water that has been colored by a bag of Red Rose or Lipton. I am not a connoisseur of teas or coffees, but if I am to hydrate this carcass in which I reside and with which I perambulate, then that water had best be flavored with something more than hydrogen and oxygen!

That’s the rule of thumb by which I live and move and have my being, but I must admit that (if no one is looking) I will sneak a few sips of ice water at a restaurant when we go out to eat. I always do so feeling a bit like a fraud, because I don’t really like the taste of water. The problem is it has no taste, and that’s what I find so tasteless about it.

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve discovered the benefits of drinking water and the need for staying hydrated. The water where we live is clean, fresh, and soft. It is still tasteless and odorless, but it can be made palatable. I discovered an outfit that sells little squirt bottles of fruit flavors. They have no artificial flavors or sugars or sugar substitutes. Just fruit concentrate in a bottle from which a quick spurt of juice is enough to both flavor and color the water, and that’s all I need. A hint of substance!

Interestingly, water has been growing on me. My wife and I traveled back to Indiana last month to visit our daughter, family, and grandkids. We boarded the train and I came down with either a summer cold or allergies, making for a miserable trip (schnozola-wise, anyway). I had no interest in coffee (an experience unparalleled in my lifetime), but I was parched. It was as if we were stumbling through the desert sands of Beau Geste with Gary Cooper. 

What I craved, during the trip, was water (evidence that I was beyond delirium). Fortunately, we were in a sleeper unit, the price of which included all the bottled water we could drink – for free. I am not one to ever take advantage of free stuff just because it is free, but I threw caution to the wind and enjoyed guzzling down water throughout our trips East and West. I don’t know if the air in the railroad coaches was just dry, or if it was my allergies and/or cold that were making me so thirsty, but I was thankful to the nth degree for the water onboard, and having permission to draw from the well as freely as I was able.

I thought about that this week as I observed the continuing disintegration of the world around us. I see a world struggling in many ways and in many areas. What I notice mostly is a world where people are thirsty for something they just haven’t been getting – waters of justice, mercy, and grace.

The world is out of balance, and as we age, doctors tell us we need to drink more water; losing one’s balance and falling down is often a sign of dehydration. I joke about my love of coffee, which is no joke, but I do recognize and appreciate the value of water, and its contribution to our health and well-being (no pun intended). 

I also appreciate justice and freedom, which brings to mind another portion of Psalm 107, “(The Lord) pours contempt on nobles and makes them lose their way in trackless deserts; but lifts the needy out of their affliction” (v. 34ff).

It’s important to not only drink plenty of fluids, but to also find oases where one can rest one’s soul, replenish one’s spirits, and heal one’s wounds. There are places where the grass is green, the air quiet, the waters still; we will find there One holding a stout staff, standing their watch. Find that spot, lay out your blanket, and be at peace, for pain is inevitable, but misery optional. So, drink up here in this, our valley, and stay balanced, my friends. 

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)