Below is an excerpt of Carlo Jung's report on the issue of water resources in Fiji.
There are many images of water in the Bible. Water has been with human beings from the beginning of the world. Even water was there before human beings. However, it is true that most of time, we forget the importance of water in our life.
What kind of images of water do you have? What kind of images of water do you have in biblical stories? And what are the meanings of water to you? Moreover, how does God show the images of water to you?
Let’s begin with the Old Testament.
According to the First Creation Story, God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other (Gen 1:6),” and God created “the sea (1:10).” Moreover, God also said, “Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures (1:20).”
At the beginning of the first book of the first testament, the image of water is life. The water is the life for all living creatures. The water provides the life for all creatures in the beginning of the first book of the Bible.
However, when we turn to the next chapter, which is the Second Story of Creation, which is also known as the Creation Story of the first man and woman, the function of this water is not only providing life. But, it also functions as a way of God’s division of the world. God rises four rivers – Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates – at the Garden in Eden.
In short, God shows God’s omnipotent power to the world, which is giving life to the world, through creating and controlling the water in the first two chapters of the first book of the bible.
When we read this passage carefully and prayerfully, this water becomes a mediator to reconnect the world to God. This water becomes the mediator to reconcile the world with God. This water also becomes the mediator to recreate and restore the world with the image of God. Therefore, the image of water in the story of the Flood is also life.
Then, you can keep continuing to reflect on the other stories of water in the Old Testament, such as Crossing of the Red Sea and the story of Jonah. Even though there are moments of disappointment, suffering, and dead, water is the source of life in the First Testament. This is what God wants to show to us.
When we turn to the Second Testament, it is much simper than the First Testament. It is more clear that the image of water is providing everlasting life from God. Just as we heard the Story of Jesus encounters with a Samaritan woman at the opening prayer, there are many example passages in the four Gospels that show the importance of water as life from God through Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
If water was the source of life, and water is also the source of life from God through Christ by the with the Holy Spirit, as brothers and sisters of God, we are the ones who should raise the questions.
How is this the same water treated by human beings? How do we see the importance of the water? Do we treat the water as a gift from God and as the source of life from God?
So, now I want to share my research and thoughts with you. I want to share the source of eternal life from God with you.
There are 7 Columban countries in Asia and the Pacific – Australia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines and Republic of Korea. However, any country is in the same situation as any other countries. But, According to the research which was done by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asian and the Pacific, it seems the water situation in Fiji is the worst among Columban countries in Asia and the Pacific.
When we see the coverage of safe sanitation, the situation seems almost the same. When we see the table, Fiji is the only country which is around 50% of the population can access to improved drinking water. Maybe, you already have experienced that it is not easy to access to the clean water resources from the tap water in this country. The sad thing is comparing the percentages in the year 1990 with 2006, there is no progress of the percentage of the total amount of accessing to clean water in Fiji. Even we have lost one percent of it.
We have to think about how we have used water, the source of life from God. And there are many different actions that we can do. We can have campaign to families and schools to save water. We can write letters to the government and various companies to do further actions to save water. We can make a group of religious brothers and sisters to discuss about how we can save our water, the life! There are many difference actions that we can choose.
When I researched about the water issue in Fiji, I remembered that quite many people in the United States bought Fiji Water from stores. They have bought bottled Fiji water from stores.
Do we need to send our water to other countries? One issue is about using plastic bottled water. There is controversy about plastic bottled water. Particularly, since Fiji has produced and exported plastic bottled water to the world, this issue is not the issue which is far from us.
Moreover, we have to think about what are our first little steps to save our water, the life from God. We also have to think about how we can contribute ourselves to the local community. What is our first step for the life from God? Water is life. The life from God.
I want to conclude my presentation with quoting a Traditional document by Tertullian about Treaties on Baptism.
“We, little fishes, after the example of ourichthusJesus Christ, are born in water,… we [don’t have] safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in water.” Treaties on Baptism by Tertullian (André Hamman, ed., Baptism: Ancient Liturgies and Patristic Texts. Staten Island, NY: Society of St. Paul, 1967, 30.)
For a much more detailed presentation on the issue of water in Fiji you may visit Carlo Jung's blog: http://carlojung.wordpress.com/. Carlo Jung is a Columban FMA student from Korea, now assigned to Fiji for pastoral and missionary experience.
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