The random thoughts of a Christian parrot
One of the highlights of my week is when I take a bath. I have my own unique “bath request” call which I make to my owner. I’ve trained him well, so he knows to get a particular water jug out of the cupboard, fill it up at the kitchen tap, and then place it on the draining board.
I then spend a wonderful half hour dipping and dunking my head in and out of the jug, and spraying water over as much of myself and the rest of the kitchen as I can possibly manage.
We have a great system going, provided that my owner remembers to quickly empty the jug when I’ve finished, and put it in the dishwasher. There was one occasion when he was a bit slow doing this. A regular visitor came to the house, and while waiting in the kitchen, he saw the water jug, and then poured himself out a glass of my finest bathwater. (It must have quenched his thirst, because he didn’t come back for a second one!) And nobody apart from me knew what had happened.
Water is one of those things that we can all take for granted, especially if we live in rainy England. Turn on a tap, and out it comes. And yet it’s as priceless to us all as oxygen. Life couldn’t exist without water. And both parrots and humans are made up of over 50% water. (In fact, our hearts and brains are 73% and our kidneys 79%). So water is bound up with the essence of life.
And it’s no coincidence that the life-giving and purifying qualities of water feature so prominently in the Gospels. Because the figure of Jesus represents our “spiritual water.” A force that can help to repair us, mend us, cleanse us, purify us and ultimately “wash us into Heaven.” John the Baptist alludes to this in Luke chapter 3, verse 16, saying that while he himself baptizes with water, Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And in John chapter 4, verse 10, Jesus confirms that He offers all humanity “the living water.”
And just as many of us take tap water for granted, so we can also take “the living water” of Jesus for granted. So many humans never seem to notice “the tap of Jesus,” let alone try to turn it on. And so their thirst remains unquenched. They carry on through life, ploughing their own furrow, unhelped, unsupported and uncleansed. Yet our lives can be completely changed for the better when we allow the essence of Jesus to flow inside us. Love, compassion, generosity, tolerance, understanding, patience; -they all start to grow and flourish inside us when we allow the real essence of Jesus to purify our lives. And with the promise of Heaven at the end, we have a genuine reason and a purpose for living.
So next time you take a shower or a bath, always remember that water is life. And “spiritual water” is eternal life. And it’s freely available if we turn on the tap!
