Water, Water Everywhere

It is after all the theme of this General Assembly.
John 7:38 says,
"Out of the believers heart shall flow rivers of living water."
We are bombarded with images of water at the convention center -
big screen projections of waterfalls,
lakes
sea shores.

Water pours from earthen pitchers in worship.
A well marks the entry of the prayer room.
A small fountain trickles inside.

Lovely blue/green "water" banners adorn the worship space
and the area where people walk the labyrinth.
Long banners of flowing water laced through the congregation from four directions during opening worship.

Soon after that we became a cloud of witnesses to General Assembly's first ever baptism.
Commissioners brought water samples from their home state to pour into the baptismal font.

Today we renewed our baptismal vows in worship.
Each of us took a translucent pebble from a plastic cup to remember it,
then told our neighbor, "Believe in your baptism!"
The children's choir sang, "Shall we gather at the river."

I get it.

These images that fill our senses come with a prayer and a responsibility -
to become life giving, living water to the world.