Water is life! Our bodies are about 60% water and the brain alone is 75% water. Every living creature – plant and animal – needs water to supply nutrients for growth and well-being. It is no wonder then that all religious traditions have held water as the most sacred symbol in all of creation. Native Americans revered water as a sign of the interconnectedness of all forms of life. Jewish and Muslim believers do ritual washings of the hands and body before times of prayer. The Bible begins in a garden nourished by a river rising in Eden (Gen 2:10), and it ends when “an angel showed me the river of life-giving water…flowing from the throne of God.” (Rev 22:1-17). Water plays the most prominent role in the first sacrament received in the Catholic Church. The priest or deacon first blesses the water of the baptismal font by calling upon “God, whose Spirit in the first moments of the world’s creation hovered over the waters, so that the very substance of water would even then take to itself the power to sanctify.” UNICEF estimates that more than 1,000 children under five die every day from illnesses caused by unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. These are deaths that can easily be prevented by providing clean drinking water and hand-washing stations.  This past weekend I was privileged to be a part of the seventh OU International Water Symposium in Norman, OK. Five water experts from across the nation were summoned to select the next winner of the OU Water Prize, an award given every 2 years to someone who is working to meet the water needs of disadvantaged peoples across the globe. Each time we sprinkle ourselves with holy water, we are sprinkling ourselves with the gift of the Holy Spirit. – – – Fr. Jim