Monday, November 8, 2010

Warm Water

I woke up yesterday feeling sore and achy and still exhausted. I was able to drag myself out of bed long enough to get in the shower. I love the way nice hot showers feel in the morning, how they rejuvenate and alleviate the pain. This particular morning as I let the water trickle over my head and shoulders, I remembered some words from a non-nonsense nurse who attended to me after Conner’s surgery birth eight years ago. Her words of wisdom I have never forgotten, and often repeat them to myself on mornings such as this. “There isn’t much warm water won’t fix.”

It was true in the moment she had shared it with me. I had been laying in bed mostly numb form the waist down for 36 or more hours. I felt gross. C-section surgeries do not keep the patient clean and tidy. I was physically and mentally wiped out and in a pain. Every time I stood up I felt fairly sure my guts were going to fall on the floor. Dave had to help me with the 100 tiny steps it took to get to the bathroom 5 feet away. But once I was in the shower, everything changed. The pain didn’t go away (come on, let’s be serious about that…less than a day and half before my insides had been on my stomach and an 8 pound infant yanked out from under my ribs)and I was still a little stooped and slow, but it suddenly felt manageable. I felt clean and more relaxed…and human.

For some reason this Sunday morning shower and the warm water turned my thought in a different direction. I began to think about the scriptures, and how often water is referred to in some form or another and all the things it represents. I was still thinking as I dried off and got ready for the Sabbath. As I waited for my hair to dry, I began flipping through the scriptures and I discovered a few things. In the times that the scriptures were written water was a precious commodity. Nearness to it dictated survival. It stood for health and well being. It was also cleansing. The earth was cleansed by water while Noah was in his boat. The Savior himself entered into the waters of baptism to begin his mission here on the earth.

And then I found a term; living waters. In each verse this term appeared in, it was followed by a very specific description of what these living waters represented. There were two main themes that I felt closely coincided with the Jewish perception of the infinite value of water; The love of God and the Word of God or the gospel.

Is it then not accident that when we are baptized we are immersed in the love of God and His word and come forth again new? Is it not true that our nearness to him ensures our spiritual survival just as nearness to the water ensured the physical survival of the people long ago in the scriptures?

Whenever the world and the day to day life it brings shamelessly to my doorstep leaves me feeling in pain, slow, sore, bent over and exhausted, I can bath myself in His “living water”, warm water that is perfect for what ails my soul and will leave me feeling rejuvenated and refreshed and will leave the pain I feel…manageable. Truly, as that nurse said, there is very little a little warm water won’t fix.

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