Non Potable

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"Pure water is the world's first and foremost medicine."

 Slovakian Proverb 

"When you drink the water, remember the spring."

Chinese Proverb

I was driving behind a truck the other day that was marked Non Potable Water. As one easily distracted, thinking about that kept my mind busy for a while. Which is probably a good thing, because I was behind him in the right hand lane for a long time and couldn't get over, and he was driving at that speed that isn't really under the speed limit, but just hovering at it. Unlike most of my family, I consider that too slow, so it has a tendency to make me impatient. (Yep...I recognize it's my issue...that's the first step to change. I haven't necessarily fully accepted the wanting to change thing yet.)

So my first thoughts are "Why do you have to mark the truck for that? Is someone trying to drink it.... sneaking and slurping from that massive container in the middle of the night because they don't have a bottle of Dansani available?" "Was a lawsuit involved? Is it the work of the same person who suggested the 'Do Not Use on Garments On Body' label on the iron or 'Remove Child Before Folding' label on the stroller?" (So OK...maybe the first one is especially funny to me because I possibly could have done it. I haven't tried the kid in the stroller folding....yet.)

Is there some great harm from a vat of unpotable water imploding in an accident? Are there trucks of water that pretend to be something they are not? That someone is trying to pass off as pure? I'm sure there is some reason for that truck to be marked, but I am clueless.

Anyway, in my ADD stream of consciousness, I started thinking about how essential water is to life. Our bodies are about half water. Is our body water potable or non potable? I guess it depends on what we put in it. If we put in clean water, it replenishes our cells and allows us to live. If we put in non potable, on the other hand, it can possibly kill us.

As those of us who are Christians are closing down Holy Week, I think of Jesus  giving his people the gift of living water to quench our thirst. But because someone is saying they are drinking this living water, doesn't mean it is true. How do you know whether someone is drinking authentic holy living water? It is always potable. It always (yes always) produces good fruit....love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about such things these days. Anger, unkind spirits, judgmental attitudes, rudeness, hatefulness, prejudice....these are things are created from non potable water. It may look the same in the glass, it may not be marked on the container, in fact it may be mis-labeled, but still it is contaminated, from an unpure source. It can be muddy and filled with microscopic creatures  and nothing even resembling purity. Still thirsty people drink it. It can be consumed almost undetected, slowly and subtly damaging bodies. It can be consumed with eyes wide open, knowing there could be consequences. It can make people sick, and have them spewing vomit all around. It can even lead to death. It's insidious and evil and not good for us at all.

Whoever you are...whatever you believe.....Christian or not....if you are human you are at least half water. As you refill your tank, are you drinking that which is potable, or that which is not fit for human consumption? How are you filling your body? How are you filling your mind? Who are you accepting the glass from? Your life reflects these things. Your label is can be as large as the lettering on that truck, or small enough to be almost undetectable...but clearly it is either Potable or Non Potable. You can change the water source and change the fruit your tree of life produces. It's spring...time for renewal for living things. And it's Easter, Christians....time to admit those nails you hammered and live resurrection. How about a glass of water?