Once upon a time, when Noah and his ark were adrift on the floodwaters that covered the earth, the animals began to get restless. Life had gotten monotonous. So a contingent of animals came to the skipper and said, ‘Hey Noah! We’re bored! There are no newspapers, the cable’s out, and Gameboys haven’t been invented. When are we finally going to get there?’ Since Noah had no idea how long the trip would last, and because he felt sorry for the animals, he decided to organize some classes.

One of the classes was on earth science. Animals of all shapes and sizes signed up – even the fish. It was in this class that the fish first learned that in order to survive, they needed to be in water. The fish had no idea that this was the case. And so the other animals began making fun of them, calling them Wetbacks and Waterboys. So after class, the fish quickly swam home and said to their mother, ‘Mom, Noah taught us that since we’re fish, we need to live in water! The other students said we were already wet! Where did this water come from, and what do we need to do to get it?’

Their mother leaned back and laughed. In a soothing voice she comforted her children saying, ‘My dear ones. You have lived your entire lives underwater. Water is all around us. You don’t feel it because you’re so used to it. You don’t know about it because you’ve never been out of it. So relax, go do your homework, and don’t forget to use the waterproof ink.’

One of the grandest and most forgotten truths of Christianity is that God is all around us – above us, below us, and in us. Like fish in water, there is nowhere the Living Water is not.

In Sunday’s Gospel we hear Jesus make this clear, declaring that He abides in us. For you and me, this is something that has been going on for so long we no longer pay it much attention. The presence of God is so consuming we totally lose track of it.

This can be good and bad.

At times we feel lost and abandoned. We feel lonely and afraid that God has left the building. We feel like we need something outside of ourselves when what we really need is already there.

But we can also take heart that as He abides in us we can abide in Him. Yes, there is a difference. While God’s life in us is a matter of fact, our life in Him is up to us. Jesus adjures us to abide, abide, abide in Him!  Pay attention to His presence in us. Stay connected so that we might do the works of love, peace, and reconciliation that He has lined us up to do.

Of course, Jesus never leaves us – He is in our hearts to stay – but we choose the distance between us. How close are we? Do we need to draw closer? How will we go about our task of abiding this week?

Reading-

Poured Out, Filled In – Mark O. Wilson

Rome and Jerusalem – Martin Goodman

Hypatia – Charles Kingsley