For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
–The Apostle Paul to the Christians in Corinth (I Corinthians 15:39-41)
I recently started a book by Joel Salatin called “The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs”. Salatin is a Christian who aims to demonstrate a lifestyle of food, farming, and creation care that honors God our Creator. In chapter two he asks “What does glory mean?” Leaning on I Corinthians 15 and other Bible passages, he astutely observes that the word glory is ascribed not only to God, but to living and nonliving creating things like beasts, people, and stars.
Isaiah 10:18 speaks of the “glory of his forest,” and we know Solomon “in all his glory” was not arrayed as beautifully as a lily (Matthew 6:29). Proverbs 17:6 says, “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers” (ESV). How about Proverbs 20:29: “The glory of young men is their strength”? Even whole cultures have a glory according to Isaiah 35:2, which mentions “the glory of Lebanon.”
Glory, Salatin asserts, “means the distinctiveness of something, the specificity and uniqueness.”
This got me pondering two questions:
1) What is the wateriness of water?
2) What does it matter?
Starting with question two can illuminate the answer to question one. Bear with me.
“The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim his handiwork.”–Psalm 19:1
When created things operate as they were created to operate, they point to the glory that is unique to their Creator. A star that did not emit light would not be declaring anything to people on earth because no one would see it revealing times and seasons and providing light and beauty in the night sky, the functions God explicitly tells us are the principal purpose of stars (Gen 1:14-18). “The point”, says Salatin, “is that the sum and substance of our lives should point toward the Godness of God. And He wants us to understand that how we extend that respect and honor to His creation indicates our level of honoring His specialness. Who would want to serve a God who is like anything else? …. Glory speaks to uniqueness; what makes God God, you you, and me me. And a pig a pig….If we can’t appreciate the pigness of the pig, we can’t appreciate the Godness of God.” The reason why it is important to ask “What is the wateriness of water?” is that when water is doing things that only water can do and doing it to full measure, it sings a clearer song to the Godness of God. The first question can now be reworded to reflect why the question matters:
What is the glory of water?
When water is doing distinctly watery things how is it behaving?
If Sweetwater is doing its job (the glory of Sweetwater?) we will not only be delivering clean and Living Water, we will be making water more watery. We will honor our Creator God by enabling the beauty and God-endowed functions of water to be more fully realized.
I INVITE YOU TO SUGGEST CHARACTERISTICS OF WATER THAT ARE UNIQUE TO IT.
Your comments may describe the ontology of water (what it is) with lots of science jargon. Your offerings might focus on aesthetics, painting word-pictures of the beautiful dance of light on a sunset ocean. All responses are welcome! Your insights will aid my effort to lead Sweetwater into those activities that illuminate the glory of water so that the glory of God Himself – the unique and lovely Godness of God—will be illuminated.