DESERT AND THE POWER OF WATER

It's both weird and beautiful to be in the desert and see it so lush.

Weird...

As I have walked around in an extremely nice resort in the Palm Springs Valley for the last 2 days, it is a little disturbing outside. We are in a desert Oasis due to the modern ability to pipe in massive quantities of water to create vacation destinations. There are places all around the world that don't have water to drink and even our state is complaining about a water shortage and we evidently still have enough water and money to pump into the desert for water features and lush green massive golf courses so the rich can have a beautiful playground in what would otherwise be a barren landscape. It's really crazy, and perhaps even wrong.


Beautiful...

On the flipside, it shows the power and beauty of water. When you take a place that is literally void of plant life and you pump into it water, you get beauty. Water is powerful like that. It has a MASSIVE influence and ability to change lives and landscapes.

Need proof? Try this view of the valley from the top. The hills and main expanse that are predominately brown are "natural", the green belt in the middle is what happens when water is "piped in".

So, why do a dry soul, a human body, and a barren landscape all cry out for water? This is why:

This is also why, in the (not all that different) desert landscape that is Israel, the Psalmist used the imagery like this:

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you, I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. - Psalm 63:1

Oh God, may we seek you like water in a desert landscape and may we manage our use of the physical water you have given to us as an act of worship.