1.5 Litres

It was a beautiful morning, not yet muggy and hot from the heat of the day – and early, very early. 3 am early. And I was up and going for a hike – down a mountain, for 20 minutes.

Now what could possible get me - a decidedly non-morning person- to get up at such an hour you may wonder. The answer is simple, and yet also infinitely complicated.

Water.

The town in which I was staying, Aglahug, Jimalalud, has no water supply in the town proper. This means that everyone in the town has to walk down the mountain to the water pump to get their water. And with everyone sharing the one water source, there is a line up of people waiting to wash their clothes, take bathes, and collect water to bring back up the mountains for drinking and cooking. With the temperatures reaching the mid thirties in the afternoons, an afternoon trek for water is not a possibility as it could easily result in heat stroke. So by 4am there is a line-up waiting for water. And so the group of us headed out at 3am to beat the rush.

After filling all of our jugs and doing some laundry we climbed back up. I chose to carry water back up for a shower rather than bathing at the pump, as there was already a line forming. Since the water is scarce, and as much as is possible is needed for drinking and cooking, this translated into a shower with 1.5 liters of water.

The water supply also suffered a recent hit, in the form of a typhoid outbreak. This community was really in need of a better water source.

When the words of Jesus are spoken, promising living water and to never go thirsty, I can just picture the scandal and shock of such words. They are hard enough for us living in the west to understand and appreciate all that it means for our lives. How much more so for those for whom clean drinking water is a daily struggle – and far too often not a possibility? What an outrageous claim! And yet how much more hope and promise that it really holds. Such a life would be that much better. The possibilities and freedom that such a promise hold are suddenly all the more irresistible, and all the more necessary.

So as we all try to drink from the living well of the Risen Christ, I ask…

What did you last do with 1.5 liters of water?