Dear Friends,
It’s the first day of Spring – at least, according to the calendar! What we really look for, of course, are the actual signs of spring, tangible reassurance that winter is over: rising temperatures, warmer breezes, longer days. One of my favourite signs of spring is the sound of dripping as the icicles and snowbanks around my home start to thaw, then melt, and water begins to flow around us, washing away one season and ushering in the next.
This coming Sunday, March 22, is World Water Day. It is fitting that we think about the importance of water as we move through Lent, ever closer to Holy Week and Easter. At the Easter Vigil in particular, we will recall those moments relayed in scripture when God acted with, through or over water, bringing about a new creation. We can reflect on the water of our own baptism and re-commit to our promises to live in newness of life – including our vow to safeguard God’s creation, and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth.
Although 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, approximately 97% of it is salt water. Of the remaining 3%, much of it is locked away deep underground, in the icecaps and in the atmosphere. With only 0.5% of the water on Earth available for human use, you’d think we would be more careful to protect it. Yet we allow freshwater and groundwater to be polluted, to be extracted beyond replenishment, and to be diverted in enormous amounts for cooling (up to 5 million gallons per day for AI use alone). Climate change also puts stress on the availability of fresh water – shrinking glaciers and changing water cycle patterns, resulting in droughts and extreme weather events. Rising sea levels cause salination of freshwater resources in low-lying areas, with catastrophic results.
We know that 2.1 billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water, including 59 First Nations communities currently under active short- or long-term drinking water advisories here in Canada. Additionally, 3.4 billion people worldwide lack access to safely managed sanitation. Around 4 billion people – half the world’s population – experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year. This past January, a UN report warned that we are entering an era of global water bankruptcy, where water extraction and pollution are depleting freshwater resources faster than they can be renewed.
This weekend, as you take your shower, wash your dishes, fill your drinking glass and – God willing – listen for the dripping sounds of the spring thaw, I invite you to take some time, whether in your Sunday worship or at home, to give thanks to God for the gift of water, and to lament our waste and pollution of such a precious resource. Learn about your local watershed and how it connects to the wider Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watershed system. Support the Indigenous Water Project delivered by Alongside Hope in collaboration with the Pimatisiwin Nipi (Living Water) Group and learn more about water justice around the world through resources from the World Council of Churches. You can find all these resources on our website at www.toronto.anglican.ca/creationcare.
Eternal God,
whose Spirit moved over the face of the deep bringing forth light and life;
by that same Spirit, renew your creation, and restore your image in your people.
Turn us from careless tenants to faithful stewards,
that your threefold blessing of clean air, rich earth and pure water
may be the inheritance of everything that has the breath of life
and one generation may proclaim to another the wonder of your works;
through Jesus Christ, your living Word, in whom the fullness of your glory is revealed.
Amen.
– The Rt. Rev. Libby Lane, Bishop of Derby
Yours in Christ,
The Right Reverend Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto
