This past Friday we watched a very good documentary movie on "Water - a great mystery." The movie presents new scientific research backed by such scientists as Prof. Kurt Wuthrich, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry (2002), and Dr. Martin Chaplin of London South Bank University. According to the theory of this research, water is fundamentally restructured at the molecular level when blessed with a good intention to others. It also insists on good intentions between people are reflected in a beautiful molecular restructuring of the structure of water even though it remains chemically the same. The reverse intention causes destructive results. Good music such as those of Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven have a positive effect while heavy rock metal music will reflect restructuring of water molecule in a negative way.
The movie also brought testimonials from a Christian perspective including such high ranking authorities as Orthodox Patriarch Kiril I of Moscow (elected in Feb. 2009).
Following the scientific work, the movie attempted also to present water as a main source of good energy in most religious traditions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Eastern religions.
In the Biblical account, Moses crossed the Red Sea. According to the theory of this research, he transformed water in his prayer. Jesus Christ used his own divine power to transform water to wine. Water is an agent for goodness and joy. In baptism by John the Baptist, he used water to help people repent. Baptism is a sacrament in the Christian Church where the baptized is immersed in water. Baptism is related to the Resurrection. The New Testament tells us we have been buried with Christ to rise again with him (the act we go through in Baptism). Moreover, water is a symbol of life not only material but also at a deeper spiritual level, it symbolizes and materializes the work of the Holy Spirit of God. In Genesis 1, the Spirit of God was said to be moving on water to bring about order out of chaos and create the entire universe.
We must understand that the movie presents theories and not necessarily facts. Here is what I think:
1. The most important thing that the movie said is that the essence of every thing is true love coupled with gratitude. This is the basis of Christianity in the deepest sense, coupled with Truth.
2. I do not believe that water itself blesses us. It is only an agent that the Spirit of God uses to sanctify us. The ideas that water has a power and memory by itself can be dangerously pantheistic as in Hindu and Buddhist religions.
3. It is good to know that other religious traditions use water as an essential part of their devotions. The Catholic Church believes that other religious traditions may have part of the truth and grace that fully exist and are expressed only in the Catholic Church. The closest to Catholics are of course the Orthodox Churches which are true Churches with probably 99% agreement on everything. These are followed by Protestant Christians with whom there is much in common based on the Creed. Next in the scale are Jews, our elder brothers from whom Jesus came. Next are Muslims whose religion is arguably based on ancient Jewish and Christian schismatics. Next are people of main world religions including Hindus. Next are atheists including Buddhists, and all agnostic beliefs. The fullness of truth exists only in the Catholic Church.
Christ is risen - He is truly risen
While watching the fascinating documentary on water, I was truly amazed at the effects of various environments had on the molecular structure. I simply thought of a couple of Hydrogen atoms, an oxygen atom and that’s…..game over. But this certainly is not the case. At the molecular level there exists a separate mystery. One that is driven by emotion, circumstance, intention and the spirit. That is what makes it the most unique substance in the world. Yet it remains in relative abundance. Even we are comprised 60% of water. Aside from the scientific facts and the experiments carried out in the documentary, I couldn’t help but draw a connection to the time Jesus had met a Samaritan woman at the well.
ReplyDeleteOne day Jesus was walking through Samaria. He was weary, so he rested at Jacob’s well. In the heat of the day, a woman came to draw some water. The Bible says: “Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ … The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ … Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink,” you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’” (John 4:7-14).
Do we thirst for the Water of Life ? Indeed we do. Hardships, relationship tension, indecision, unfulfilled and restlessness… emptiness. The living water of Jesus Christ is what you are really thirsty for. Jesus is the Living Water. We all need the spiritual water that Jesus gives.
Maybe you have tried everything to satisfy and bring peace and joy to your life, to have a sense of forgiveness and a sense of belonging. Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again” (John 4:13). But drink of the living water that Jesus will give you, and you will never thirst. Jesus said, “The water that I will give [you] will become in [you] a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). This in ways is the personal relationship you have with Christ.
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). The wells of salvation are being offered to you. When you come to the water, there’s a satisfaction beyond anything words can describe.
This woman had an empty life. Her expectations in life had faded. No longer expecting, no longer hoping for anything different. When Jesus spoke to her she was living with a man who was not her husband. Having tried nearly everything, she was miserable, unhappy—thirsty. “Come to the waters; drink of the living fountain,” Jesus told her.
The woman said, “Sir, give me this water” (John 4:15).
Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38).
As I compose this article, I have a glass of water beside me on the desk and 96.3FM playing in the background softly. It’s an adagio piece. You can only imagine the stunning formation that have crystallized within.
- Pierre