Appreciate water before it is privatised

Robert Cochran, TRCEG; Máirtín de Burca, TRCEG Chairperson; Carol Newburn, Taney Parish; Canon Patrick Comerford, Director of Spiritual Formation at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute; the Revd Canon Horace McKinley, Rector; Pamela Sheil, Whitechurch Parish; Helen McSharry, TRCEG; Helen Shiel, TRCEG Methodist representative; Alan Shiel, Whitechurch Parish; Teresa Hunt, Holy Cross TRCEG; Gabriel Hunt, Holy Cross TRCEG; and Owen Lemass, TRCEG, pictured following the 3Rock Churches Environmental Group ‘Water Awareness Sunday’ Ecumenical Service in Whitechurch Parish Church.

The above photographed is published in black and white on p. 11 and in colour on p. 66 of the current [May 2011] edition of the Church Review (Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, along with the following half-page report by Orla Ryan on p. 11:

Appreciate water before it is privatised

While preaching at a 3Rock Churches Environmental Group Ecumenical Service in Whitechurch Parish Church on ‘Water Awareness Sunday’, Canon Patrick Comerford, Director of Spiritual Formation at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, extolled the many virtues of this natural resource and encouraged us to cease from taking it for granted before it is privatised.

He described last winter’s water crisis as a wake up call, saying it “was not caused by us using too much water; but by us wasting too water; mainly though not maintaining the pipes that bring water from our lakes and rivers to our homes, factories, offices and schools”. He continued, “If this problem is not addressed, and water charges are introduced, then we can be sure, that like all taxation, those charges will rise steadily, drip-drip-drip, that people will be cut off, that major health problems will arise, and that eventually – as so often happens – there will be pressures to privatise the water supplies. When that happens, profit, not health and cleanliness, will quickly become the primary motive for supplying water.”

Rather than complacency, Patrick feels we ought to be in wonder and in awe of water. He drew attention to the fact that “up to 60% of the human body is water; the brain is composed of 70% water; and the lungs are nearly 90% water. About 83% of our blood is water, which helps digest our food, transport waste, and control our body temperature”.

He went on to describe water as “the first and the last of God’s great blessings in nature, immediately after creation itself”. He noted how Saint John, surrounded by the Aegean waters in lonely exile on Patmos, drew constantly on water for his images of God, of God’s action in the world, of Christ’s bounty and generosity, and of the Kingdom of God, saying, “It is as if he is drawing from a deep well for his inspiration.”

He encouraged all people to appreciate the gift of water, before it’s too late.