Environmental Stewardship Commission
(MEESC)

Reflection on Exodus 17: 1-7
by Nan Stokes

We are almost half-way through the Lenten season, and we are beginning to thirst. Now we think about Jesus going into the desert and being tempted there – a dry and thirsty place. For the Jew in Jesus' time, and for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness, the desert was an ever-present place where you had to be prepared for survival. Certainly water was important, and we can understand why the people cried out to Moses and asked for water to drink. In the northland, the ground is usually covered with snow during Lent, and it is a stretch to think of a dry and hot place where water in any form is in short supply. But we have all been thirsty at some time in our lives, and know that a drink of cool water is just what is needed. So while we wrestle with our temptations and go through the wilderness of lives that need changing, we long for the water that sustains our physical being, and the living water we need for our spiritual survival.

The Psalm for this third Sunday in Lent bids us "Bow down, bend the knee and kneel before the Lord our Maker." It is time to renew our resolve to repent this Lent.

Nan Stokes was an active member of St. Edward's Episcopal Church, Duluth, MN, when she originally wrote this reflection in 1999. Nan and we welcome your comments. Please address your comments or additional reflections to Nan Stokes or any MEESC member, or mail them to: