We Are Drops of Water – Guest Post by Nancy Martin
This post is used by permission of Nancy Martin – editor of Eating for Revolution
My relationship with water has been expanding this summer. Being born and raised in the 
southern Arizona desert, I have always loved water in its many forms: streams and rivers, thunderstorms and flash floods (gully washers we used to call them); lakes and pools. It is only recently that I am expanding that appreciation to the water which makes up 90% or more of most plants and animals; trees and grasses; the veggies on my plate and the cells of my body.
I remember a folk hymn chorus: “We are drops of water, in a mighty ocean. We are sons and daughters of one life.” I am not sure of its origin, but the words have rippled through my mind recently.
The Lakota Sioux at Standing Rock and their fight for the rights of water, bring them to mind. It strikes me, (accurately or not), that they are battling not only for their right to have access to clean water, but for the right of the water in the river to remain free and clear. There is something powerful about seeking to nurture and protect the water which nourishes and enables our lives. It goes far beyond environmental impact and the legal issues of who “owns” the water. There is the call to conscious relationship with water not as a resource to be used, but as our life’s blood. We all share in this water-filled existence of humanity.
Our northern California home is on a forested hillside. Our well provides some of the most natural, clean, balanced water in the world. The question comes to me, how do I honor the water that passed through my life?
I have begun a couple of simple practices. One is to have a clean water bowl for the kitchen sink. We use it to rinse fruits and vegetables and to splash over the dishes at the end of a meal. It’s also there to catch the water when I am waiting for the tap water to turn hot. Several times a day I carry it out to one of the trees or bushes that surround the yard and offer it back to the earth – rather than feeding it down a drain and into a water treatment system that it does not need. It is not a ceremony, just a thought of gratitude and wishing it well as it nurtures other living things in my environment.
I hold that same thought when I add water to the pond for the deer, squirrels and birds who share this bit of land. When I turn the sprinklers on, I celebrate the way the water is free to evaporate or settle to the soil – to change form in order to refresh its nature and continue its journey to the sea.
There is a sacred nature to water – worthy of our gratitude and our protection. I hope to keep discovering ways to live in humble awareness of being a drop of water in a mighty ocean of life.
