Episcopal Church Women

What are the Episcopal Church Women to do?
Are we the women at the well?
Are we the woman protecting the well?

 In ancient Israel, maintaining the household was the work of the woman. Carrying jars or skins of water weighing 35–45 lbs (16–20 kg) on the head or hip was not unusual regardless of one’s age. In the video from week 2, “Living without Clean Water,” 12-year-old Tarique made that trek every day to gather dirty water to bring back to her family. Remember the man? He had difficulty keeping up with a 12-year-old (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPxMOzN0Uq4).

In Genesis 24:18-20, Abraham’s servant was sent to find a husband for Issac, one of Abraham’s sons. When the servant arrived at the town of Nahor, he stopped at the well with his camels and wished that one of the women who came to the well would be the wife for Isaac. Rebekah was one of the women who came to the well and “quickly lowered her jar to her hands and gave him a drink” and then “ran back to the well to draw more water and drew for all his camels.” In doing this, Rebekah demonstrated both strength and the expectation that a woman could supply substantial quantities of water without additional help. How are women today reacting to the water needs of the world?

We are one with the waters of creation.
We are one with each other through the waters of creation.
We are Living Waters.

Commencement. We tend to think of a commencement as an ending, like, graduating from high school or college. However, commencement is about beginning, a new beginning. One path or process is ending while giving life to a new path or process – commencing a new path or process. We have information, for some it might be too much; however, what are we going to do with it? How can we or can we turn the misuse or abuse of water around? How can we ensure all people have access to clean and abundant water? What is the future of water management if we continue to consider it a commodity, something to be sold and bought? Should it be a commodity? How do we unite across communities, across parishes, denominational or faith community boundaries to make sure people have what they need?

Let us pray: Algonquin Water Song; Women, Water Carriers, and Protectors –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDGWuPUH5_A&list=RDnJstnFx-PUI&index=5

Review the following videos:

• Upstream/Downstream: Uniting for Water Justice: https://www.pbs.org/video/upstream-downriver-uniting-for-water-justice-HvYOtw/
• The future with Hannah Frye: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDY2McKLvlM
• How to make changes: the water crisis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VyfN30XzDM
• What are the solutions? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCMGFZ2A85o
• Standing rock: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/tracker/dakota-access-pipeline/

This week’s task:

What are the Episcopal Church Women called to do as part of Creation Care? Creation care is about stewardship. In Genesis, humankind was given dominion over all God created – for God’s purposes. We have been made caretakers for what is Gods to be used for God’s people. What are YOU going to do to make this a reality? What is your ECW chapter willing to do to ensure the water God created is available for God’s people?

We know there are some simple steps we can take that were shared at the beginning of this journey. We can change to low flow shower heads and toilets, take shorter showers, have fewer water-thirsty lawns, stop rinsing dishes before using the dishwasher and use the dishwasher. We can continue to collaborate with organizations that work with communities around the world assisting women and girls, saving their lives and ours because we are all connected. What can we learn from cultures other than our own?

Do not overwhelm yourselves. Keep it simple if this is something new. You can expand if your chapter is already doing something. Let’s not wait until our taps go dry.

Let us remember Kweli’s journey (from week 1) which is part of ours:

The creek connects to the river.
The river connects to the ocean.
The rain connects to the aquifer.
The plant connects to the land.
The pigment connects to the plant.
The remnant connects to memory.
The ancestor connects to the descendant.

And I am somewhere within all of these relationships, receiving, observing, creating, and carrying something forward.

The water carries.

The plants carry.

I carry.

Share what you are doing or going to do on the ECW Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ecwnational/).

As we commence, let us pray in song: We pray for the waters — We pray to the waters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIi2Lrb8GZ8&list=RDnJstnFx-PUI&index=6

Water of Life — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRazuibrxAs&list=RDCRazuibrxAs&start_radio=1

Thank you for taking this journey toward ensuring people have water because we as Episcopal Church Women are Living Waters.

The poor and needy search for water but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.” – Isaiah 41:17

From: Fortune Magazine

Largest U.S. reservoir plummets to lowest level since it was filled some 90 yeas ago as water crisis deepens for western states.

By Ty O’Neil, Dorany Pineda, and the Associated Press

August 8, 2026, https://fortune.com/2026/08/08/largest-us-reservoir-lake-mead-record-low-level-water-crisis-western-states/

 From the article: “Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, has plummeted to its lowest water level since it was filled some 90 years ago, another sign of the crisis plaguing the Colorado River system. The record follows a winter that produced the worst snowpack on record in the Colorado River Basis. Melting snow feeds the river which is relied upon by farmers, industries, wildlife, hydropower producers and more than 40 million people across seven U.S. states, tribal nations, and Mexico.”

Even though only 2% of the earth’s water is available for human consumption, and while we are misusing it, the world will still have drinkable water in 2030. However, global demand is projected to exceed reliable freshwater supplies by 40%. This means severe water scarcity and unequal access will negatively affect billions of people around the world. Billions of people, especially in vulnerable and dry regions, currently face water shortages for at least one month every year.

If we didn’t know before, we now know the causes of this crisis. Water is viewed by too many people as a commodity, something to be used, something to be sold, to be part of the capitalist system. We know agriculture and heavy industry require massive amounts of freshwater. With the construction of data centers for AI (artificial intelligence) in the U.S. even more water will be consumed to cool these centers which can be between 300,000 to 5 million gallons a day depending on the size of the center.

While many countries have taken steps to stop pollution of water sources, untreated wastewater and toxic chemical runoff still contaminate local water supplies. And finally, there is climate change which disrupts rainfall, causes glacial melting and intensifies droughts.

We are one with the waters of creation.
We are one with each other through the waters of creation.
We are Living Waters.

All of this affects us, our bodies because we are one with the water. While our bodies are approximately 60% water, this is what our organs need:

• Lungs: 83%
• Heart and Brain: 73%
• Muscles and Kidneys: 79%
• Skin: 64%
• Bones: 31%

To maintain our bodies, we need to stay hydrated – where is that water coming from? Is that water clean? How do we know? As we learned, too many people drink, bathe, and use water that is polluted, contributing to disease and death. Without clean and available water, we are harming ourselves.

Let us pray: Prayer of Lament – Keepers of the Water Vigil by Ellen Goulden, Diocese of Toronto (2017)

Creator and Life-giver, You water the furrows of the earth abundantly, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth, and we clear-cut the forests and till the edges of the fields, until the soil spills into the streams and pesticides and manure make foul the rivers.

O Source of Living Water, hear our cry, cleanse and renew us and all creation.

 In every part of the earth, You have set humans to tend and steward the land as a goodly heritage, and the First Peoples of this land are poisoned with mercury from pulp mills and cannot safely drink the water in their own homes.

O Source of Living Water, hear our cry, cleanse and renew us and all creation.

 You make springs to gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, giving drink to every creature, and we span those streams with pipelines that rupture and leak, oozing oil and bitumen, poisoning the fish and the birds of the air.

O Source of Living Water, hear our cry, cleanse and renew us and all creation.

 You visit the earth and water it, soaking the subsoil to feed the plants and to fill our wells,

And we sell off that water for a pittance, to be bottled in plastic and sold back to the thirsty at a profit, while the crops wither in the fields.

O Source of Living Water, hear our cry, cleanse and renew us and all creation.

 You opened rocks in the desert to bring water to Your thirsty people, and we fracture rocks for gases that set tap water aflame.

O Source of Living Water, hear our cry, cleanse and renew us and all creation.

You gather the deeps into storehouses, channeling the fresh waters of Turtle Island into the Great Lakes, and we bury radioactive waste by their shores and pollute them with our industries.

O Source of Living Water, hear our cry, cleanse and renew us and all creation.

 You lap the shores of the continents with the wide oceans, filled with living creatures great and small, and we choke them with our refuse and suffocate them with our waste.

O Source of Living Water, hear our cry, cleanse and renew us and all creation.

Have mercy on us, forgive us, and make us new.

O Source of Living Water, hear our cry, cleanse and renew us and all creation. Amen.

This week, we continue gathering and assessing information on how our use of water affects “this fragile earth, our island home” and how we prepare for a future that if we are nor proactive, we might be forced into change we do not want.

After you watch the videos (some will refresh your memory), share your reflections and questions on the ECW Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ecwnational/).

• 60 minutes Running Dry (2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxYie8V-TQ0
• How to prepare for a wetter future and how agriculture must be part of the solution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ALeNj7cp_s
• H20: The Molecule that Made Us- Extreme Flooding – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5wmBBysESo
• H20: The Molecule that Made Us – Virtual Water – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HC6bibnw6o
• H2O: The Molecule that Made Us- Cracks in the Earth – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE4o80xAfcQ
• H2O: The Molecule that Made Us – Resurrection Plants – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKYp4FTdANg
• H2O: The Molecule that Made Us – Involving our children: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7qcg60ga3o

Task for this week:

One church was conducting an energy audit for the church building. It was being conducted by the girl scout troop the church sponsored. The task for the girls was to assess the building for electricity usage. The girls developed a term “electricity vampires.” In addition to searching the building for lights on, for example, they also searched for those vampire uses of electricity. You know, those surge protectors that are always on. Those chargers for our cell phones that are always plugged in, or computers that are never turned off.

These scouts did their job. They found uses many adults never thought of and they called the adults to account and formulated a plan to revision electricity usage for the church.

As we assess water in our lives, now, it is your turn. It seems children and young people are light years ahead of adults in the need to save our planet. Are children/young people in your faith communities active in how we use and save our water? How would you find out?

The specific task is to write a paragraph or so about a presentation you would make to your congregation or organization encouraging people to re-think how we/they use water and the human impact on climate change and how to involve young people.

Once you have shared your “presentation,” review what others have to offer.

“My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord? How long?” – Psalm 6:3

Are we called to lament how we treat God’s creation; how we negatively affect the lives of God’s people because of how we misuse water. When we lament, we feel or express deep sadness, grief or sorrow. We express regret for how we have treated God’s people and God’s water. Through lament, we can also complain in faith how we have not done what we should do to protect creation and ask forgiveness, correction, and direction. A biblical lament is a prayer of faith that brings hurt, confusion, or injustice straight to the Lord while choosing to trust God; where we ask God to strengthen us to do what needs to be done as individuals, families, communities, or as the Church.

We are one with the waters of creation.
We are one with each other through the waters of creation.
We are Living Waters.

Let us pray in song . . .  You might want to place a bowl of water in front of you so you can feel/touch the water.

“Sing the Water Song” (No subtitles)– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC2FHciQ0sU

Shylah Ray Sunshine “Water Song” (English subtitles)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJstnFx-PUI&list=RDnJstnFx-PUI&start_radio=1

The Water Song (Polish and Korean subtitles) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks5IIzYX3t8&list=RDnJstnFx-PUI&index=2

Water Song by the Akwesasne Women Singers (English and Korean subtitles)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MvNaFWcQf4

Water Song by Doreen Day (Korean subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks5IIzYX3t8&list=PLUf7EiMmqZDajHGO0vlgD5coi_yTVIaPU

Song of the Waters (no subtitles) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES0Sr3fchmY&list=RDES0Sr3fchmY&start_radio=1

Amen.

This week, we will write and share prayers of lament. Let the Spirit move you to write what is on your heart. What do you want to share with the group? Share your prayer of lament on the ECW Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ecwnational/). Be sure to read and reflect on prayers shared by others in the group.

Del Libro del Génesis (edición Dios Habla Hoy):

1 En el comienzo de todo, Dios creó el cielo y la tierra. ² La tierra no tenía entonces ninguna forma; todo era un mar profundo cubierto de oscuridad, y el espíritu de Dios se movía sobre el agua.

⁶ Después Dios dijo: “Que haya una bóveda que separe las aguas, para que estas queden separadas”. ⁷ Dios hizo una bóveda que separó las aguas: una parte de ellas quedó debajo de la bóveda, y otra parte quedó arriba. Y así fue.

⁹ Entonces Dios dijo: “Que el agua que está debajo del cielo se junte en un solo lugar, para que aparezca lo seco”. Y así fue. ¹⁰ A la parte seca Dios la llamó “tierra”, y al agua que se había juntado la llamó “mar”.

²⁰ Luego Dios dijo: “Que produzca el agua toda clase de animales, y que haya también aves que vuelen sobre la tierra”. ²¹ Dios creó los grandes monstruos del mar, y todos los animales que el agua produce y que viven en ella, y todas las aves. Al ver Dios que así estaba bien, ²² bendijo con estas palabras a los animales que había hecho: “Que tengan muchas crías y llenen los mares, y que haya muchas aves en el mundo”.

²⁶ Entonces dijo: “Ahora hagamos al hombre a nuestra imagen. Él tendrá poder sobre los peces, las aves, los animales domésticos y los salvajes, y sobre los que se arrastran por el suelo”.

²⁷ Cuando Dios creó al hombre, lo creó a su imagen…

Sin agua, no existe la creación como la conocemos. No existe vida como la conocemos y la hemos vivido.

Le damos la bienvenida a La Temporada de la Creación, una conmemoración ecuménica anual que se extiende del 1° de septiembre al 4 de octubre. Sin embargo, como parte de la creación de Dios, esta temporada nos acompaña en todos y cada uno de los días. En este tiempo dedicado a enfocarnos en la creación y en la forma en que como seres humanos interactuamos con ella y la impactamos, los cristianos de todo el mundo nos unimos durante estas semanas para orar, rendir culto y tomar medidas para proteger el medio ambiente, que es la creación de Dios. El tema de 2026 es “Agua viva”, inspirado en el profeta Ezequiel 47:9-12 (edición Dios Habla Hoy):

⁹ En cualquier parte a donde llegue esta corriente, podrán vivir animales de todas clases y muchísimos peces. Porque el agua de este río convertirá el agua amarga en agua dulce, y habrá todo género de vida. ¹⁰ Desde En-gadi hasta En-eglaim habrá pescadores, y ahí pondrán a secar sus redes. Y habrá allí tanta abundancia y variedad de peces como en el mar Mediterráneo. ¹¹ Pero en las ciénagas y pantanos no habrá agua dulce; allí quedará agua salada, que servirá para sacar sal. ¹² En las dos orillas del río crecerá toda clase de árboles frutales. Sus hojas no se caerán nunca, ni dejarán de dar fruto jamás. Cada mes tendrán fruto, porque estarán regados con el agua que sale del templo. Los frutos servirán de alimento y las hojas de medicina.

Al comenzar este camino juntos, les animamos a ver en forma individual o en grupo una invitación en video de líderes religiosos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnho_aeql2w

Además, aquí encontrarán una guía que incluye oraciones, servicios y otros recursos que pueden utilizar durante estas semanas y después:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WeWEjt_WxyS6Ed5qD8tnRIahSMJ5SUmi/view

Cada semana, proporcionaremos recursos para revisión y reflexión en la página web de ECW, y les animamos a unirse a la comunidad en nuestra página de Facebook para compartir esas reflexiones: https://www.facebook.com/ecwnational. Pase tiempo con la información proporcionada para incluir sus reflexiones y las de quienes también comparten. No se apresure.

Reflexionando sobre el tema de Agua Viva, las Mujeres de la Iglesia Episcopal reconocen que las palabras se refieren a Jesús como el Agua Viva que nos sostiene y nos sana espiritualmente. En Juan 7:37-39 (edición Dios Habla Hoy), él nos promete:

^37-38 El último día de la fiesta era el más importante. Aquel día Jesús, puesto de pie, dijo con voz fuerte: —Si alguien tiene sed, venga a mí, y el que cree en mí, que beba. Como dice la Escritura, del interior de aquel correrán ríos de agua viva.³⁹ Con esto, Jesús quería decir que los que creyeran en él recibirían el Espíritu; y es que el Espíritu todavía no estaba, porque Jesús aún no había sido glorificado.

En Juan 4:13-14 (edición Dios Habla Hoy), Jesús contrasta esta agua espiritual que es él con el agua física mientras aconseja a la mujer samaritana:

¹³ Jesús le contestó: —Todos los que beben de esta agua, volverán a tener sed; ¹⁴ pero el que beba del agua que yo le daré, nunca volverá a tener sed. Porque el agua que yo le daré se convertirá en él en manantial de agua que brotará dándole vida eterna.

Y sin embargo, sabemos que el agua física también es importante para la vida y el bienestar de la creación de Dios, incluidos nosotros, quienes fuimos creados a imagen de Dios. Por lo tanto, durante este período de reflexión, nosotras, como Mujeres de la Iglesia Episcopal, nos enfocaremos en el Agua Viva, ya que lo somos porque estamos compuestas de agua y existen diversas fuentes de agua importantes para la vida en este planeta con las que interactuamos y a las que afectamos. Aunque la vida eterna es importante, entendemos que también es fundamental cuidar y nutrir la vida tal como la vivimos aquí y ahora, que debemos cuidar y proteger la creación.

En el Génesis, el ser humano no tuvo vida hasta que Dios compartió su aliento, y al respirar, intercambiamos entre 10 y 17 onzas de agua con la atmósfera diariamente. Cada vez que exhalamos, nuestro aliento lleva vapor de agua invisible al aire. Nuestros cuerpos, en promedio, están compuestos por un 60% de agua y nuestra piel despide constantemente humedad invisible (sudor insensible) directamente al aire, sumando entre 13 y 20 onzas adicionales diariamente. Estas cantidades aumentan si hacemos ejercicio y sudamos. Mientras respiramos y sudamos, nuestra agua se une al ciclo global del agua. Una vez que nuestro aliento, agua y sudor entran al aire en forma de gas y se unen con el agua que se evapora de océanos, lagos, plantas y otras fuentes, todo asciende para formar nubes y eventualmente cae de nuevo a la tierra en forma de lluvia o nieve.

Somos un solo ser con el agua de la creación

Esta semana nos enfocaremos en la forma en que somos un solo ser con el agua de la creación. Como parte de este viaje, me gustaría presentarle a Kweli Kitwana. Kweli es una artista, una persona creativa, Artista en Residencia con MANGO para la Residencia Virtual Internacional Ocean VII. https://oceandecade.org/events/ocean-virtual-art-residency/. Como parte de esta residencia, Kweli ha utilizado publicaciones en Facebook para compartir su trayectoria. Comparto, con su permiso, una publicación reciente: https://www.facebook.com/AfricanAmericanFabrics

Esta semana, mi proyecto profundizó más en la recopilación física de la memoria. He estado recopilando agua e historias sobre el agua como parte de mi exploración del océano como un testigo sagrado y guardián de la memoria. Estoy pensando en el agua no simplemente como algo que observo, sino como algo que mueve, transporta, conecta y transforma. Mi colección está comenzando a incluir relaciones muy diferentes con el agua.

He recibido de muchos de ustedes agua real e historias relacionadas con el río Arkansas, agua de la llave de Memphis que proviene del antiguo acuífero Memphis Sands, agua de Berkeley y relatos vinculados al río Ohio, Hawaii y el río Nilo en Egipto. Una historia recuerda un arroyo de la infancia detrás de una escuela primaria a la que asistieron nuestros hijos. En otra, me enviaron el proverbio chino que dice: “Cuando bebas agua, recuerda la fuente”.

Las personas han descrito el agua como purificadora y calmante, como algo que les ayuda a dormir, como un lugar para flotar y como una fuerza que puede transportar el cuerpo a través de las olas. Estas contribuciones me están ayudando a comprender algo importante sobre mi proyecto: no tenemos que vivir junto al océano para tener una relación con él.

Las personas pueden experimentar el agua a través del río que pasa por detrás de su casa, un arroyo de la infancia, la lluvia que cae en su vecindario, un pozo, un acuífero, un lago o el agua que sale de la llave de su cocina. Esta agua aparentemente local forma parte de sistemas hidrológicos mucho más grandes. Los ríos fluyen hacia otros ríos, estuarios, bahías y océanos. La lluvia se eleva y regresa. El agua subterránea contiene rastros de lluvia antigua. El agua cruza continuamente las fronteras que utilizamos para separar los lugares.

Por lo tanto, para las personas que viven tierra adentro, el océano puede estar presente en su propio “patio trasero” a través de las vías fluviales que los rodean y los sostienen.

Esto expande mi comprensión de la interconexión. El Océano Pacífico que encuentro en Ruby (su bote) en la Marina de Berkeley no es el único punto de entrada a esta obra. Las personas que están junto al río Arkansas o que recuerdan un arroyo de su infancia también pueden participar en la conversación. El acuífero Memphis Sands introduce otra escala de recuerdo, el agua retenida bajo tierra durante periodos enormes. El Nilo lleva consigo otra historia geográfica y cultural. Un cuidador que se convirtió en amigo en una piscina local es otro punto de entrada. La historia del río Ohio tiene una dimensión ancestral especialmente impactante debido a su asociación con los antepasados que navegaron por él escapando de la esclavitud en camino hacia la libertad.

Estas aguas no transportan historias idénticas, y no deseo reducirlas a una sola historia. Me interesa lo que sucede cuando se les permite existir una al lado de la otra como recuerdos individuales dentro de un sistema de agua interconectado.

Mi visita al Jardín Botánico de UC Berkeley amplió aún más esta exploración. Pasé tiempo aprendiendo sobre plantas para teñir y me entregaron podas, flores, hojas y raíces para seguir experimentando en mi estudio. Ahora estoy trabajando con Indigofera, guado, raíz de rubia, alcanna, cota tinctoria y coreopsis.

Comencé a darme cuenta de que estas plantas me interesan como algo más que fuentes de color. Estoy pensando en ellas como remanentes y portadoras de historias, porque algunas de estas plantas han viajado a través de continentes y océanos mediante el comercio, la migración, la colonización y el intercambio cultural. El índigo, en particular, tiene una complicada historia vinculada a las economías coloniales, así como al trabajo y los conocimientos de los africanos esclavizados. Otras plantas me permiten pensar de manera más simbólica acerca de las raíces, la tierra, la luz solar, la supervivencia, el conocimiento oculto y los lugares que los descendientes finalmente convierten en su hogar.

Como descendiente de africanos esclavizados, esto añade otra dimensión a mi investigación. Me pregunto qué legaron mis antepasados, cuando tanto les fue arrebatado. No solo trauma, sino también conocimiento, creatividad, espiritualidad, resiliencia, amor, belleza y formas de entender el mundo natural.

Estoy comenzando a trazar cada planta en un mapa de esta historia más amplia: el índigo como pasaje, el guado como imperio, la rubia como raíces, la alcanna como memoria oculta, la cota como luz y la coreopsis como descendiente y lugar. Extraeré los colores de estas plantas para aplicarlos en tela y papel, preservando parte del material vegetal original como parte de mi archivo en crecimiento.

Ahora el agua y las plantas están comenzando a unirse.

Estoy considerando cómo las aguas recolectadas, los tintes vegetales, los pigmentos terrestres, las telas, el papel, las fotografías y otros remanentes podrían convertirse en registros materiales de estas relaciones. Un trozo de tela podría contener el color extraído de una planta y, al mismo tiempo, transportar la historia de un agua en particular. Una botella de agua podría estar junto a los remanentes de la planta y al textil que ayudó a crear. El proceso en sí mismo puede convertirse en el mapa de un lugar, movimiento, ascendencia y recuerdo.

La palabra “remanente” se ha vuelto importante para mí. Un remanente es lo que queda, pero no necesariamente es algo incompleto. Puede contener evidencia de una historia completa. Una raíz, un trozo de tela, una fotografía, una botella de agua recolectada, una flor seca o una mancha de pigmento pueden mantener una relación con algo mucho más grande.

El trabajo de esta semana me está ayudando a entender que mi proyecto no consiste en recrear el pasado. Consiste en reconocer lo que permanece, lo que ha viajado, lo que nos conecta y lo que continúa.

El arroyo se conecta con el río.
El río se conecta con el océano.
La lluvia se conecta con el acuífero.
La planta se conecta con la tierra.
El pigmento se conecta con la planta.
El remanente se conecta con el recuerdo.
El ancestro se conecta con el descendiente.

Y yo estoy en algún lugar dentro de todas estas relaciones, recibiendo, observando, creando y transportando algo hacia adelante.

El agua transporta.
Las plantas transportan.
Yo transporto.

———————————————————

Somos un solo ser con el agua de la creación

Si está leyendo esto en el sitio web de ECW, ahora le invitamos a visitar la página de Facebook de ECW https://www.facebook.com/ecwnational para participar en la tarea y reflexión de la primera semana. Si está leyendo esto en la página de Facebook de ECW, entonces ya puede comenzar.

• ¿Cómo afectaron los versículos bíblicos la forma en que entiende el agua? ¿De qué forma es “un solo ser” con el agua de la creación? ¿Qué es esa agua? ¿Dónde se encuentra esa agua? Podría dar un paseo a lo largo de un arroyo y darse cuenta de que su aliento y su sudor se han mezclado con esa agua. Podría tomar una ducha, abrir la llave o recoger agua de un pozo y darse cuenta de que también es un solo ser con esa agua. O podría salir a correr, sudar y darse cuenta de que esa agua se unirá con otra para formar lluvia que caerá a la tierra y repondrá lagos, océanos y acuíferos o regará las plantas de su jardín. Mientras se viste y sigue reflexionando sobre lo que escribió Kweli, se da cuenta de que las fibras que forman la tela de su ropa contienen su aliento y su sudor. ¿Cómo interactúa usted, como “Agua Viva”, con el resto del agua de la creación? Comparta sus historias pasadas y presentes. Publique fotos si lo desea.

Al publicar sus reflexiones (y fotografías), tómese el tiempo para leer lo que otras personas están compartiendo. Piense en lo que podrían tener en común.

The National Episcopal Church Women are hosting The Season of Creation, an annual ecumenical commemoration running from September 1 to October 4. The 2026 program centers around the theme Living Water, which unites Christians globally to pray, worship, and take action to protect the environment. Over the coming weeks, the program will explore how human beings interact with and impact physical and spiritual water sources, emphasizing that humans are interconnected with the global water cycle.

Participants are invited to engage with these lessons by sharing their own personal stories, reflections, and photographs on the ECW’s Facebook page.

Estación de la creación. Agua Viva

La Asociación Nacional de Mujeres de la Iglesia Episcopal está organizando La estación de la creación, una conmemoración ecuménica anual que se extiende desde el 1° de septiembre hasta el 4 de octubre. El programa de 2026 se centra en el tema del Agua Viva, que une a los cristianos de todo el mundo para orar, rendir culto y tomar medidas para proteger el medio ambiente. En las próximas semanas, el programa
explorará cómo los seres humanos interactúan con las fuentes de agua física y espiritual, así como el impacto que tienen sobre ellas, enfatizando que los humanos están interconectados con el ciclo del agua a nivel mundial.

Acompáñenos en Facebook y en las lecciones guiadas en el sitio web para unirnos y explorar la trayectoria del Agua Viva durante el mes de septiembre.

Season of Creation: We Are Living Waters Week 1 – September 1 – ‘see below’
Semana 1 Estación de la creación. Somos Agua Viva: Semana 1

Season of Creation: We Are Living Waters – Week 2 -September 8
Estación de la creación. Somos Agua Viva: Semana 2

Season of Creation: We Are Living Waters – Week 3 – September 15
Estación de la creación. Somos Agua Viva Lamento: Semana 3

Season of Creation: We Are Living Waters – Week 4 – September 22
Estación de la creación. Somos Agua Viva: Semana 4

Season of Creation: We Are Living Waters – Week 5 – September 29
Estación de la creación. Somos Agua Viva: Semana 5

Week 1

This week’s curriculum highlights a project by artist-in-residence Kweli Kitwana, who collects water stories to examine how local waterways connect people across geographies, histories, and ancestry.

From the Book of Genesis (NRSVue):

1 When God began to create the heavens and the earth, ² the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.

⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the waters

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas. .

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

²⁷ So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them. . .

Without water, there is no creation as we have come to know it. There is no life as we have come to know it and live it.

Welcome to The Season of Creation which is an annual ecumenical commemoration that runs from September 1 to October 4. However, as part of God’s creation, this season is with us each and every day. Yet, in this time set aside to focus on creation and how we, as human beings interact and impact it, Christians worldwide unite during these weeks to pray, worship, and take action to protect the environment, God’s creation. The 2026 theme is “Living Water,” inspired by the prophet Ezekiel 47:9-12 (NRSVue):

⁹ Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish once these waters reach there. It will become fresh, and everything will live where the river goes. ¹⁰ People will stand fishing beside the sea from Engedi to Eneglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. ¹¹ But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. ¹² On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

As we begin this journey together, you are invited and encouraged to watch alone or in groups, a video invitation from faith leaders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnho_aeql2w

There is also a guide which includes prayers, services, and other resources that can be used during these weeks and after:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WeWEjt_WxyS6Ed5qD8tnRIahSMJ5SUmi/view

Each week, there will be resources provided for review and reflection on the ECW webpage and you are encouraged to join the community on our Facebook page to share those reflections: https://www.facebook.com/ecwnational. Take time to be with the information provided, to include your reflections and those who also share. Don’t rush.

Reflecting on the theme, Living Water, the Episcopal Church Women recognize the words refer to Jesus being the Living Water that spiritually sustains and heals us. In John 7:37-39 (NRSVue), he promises:

³⁷ On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! ³⁸ Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” ³⁹ (When he said, “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him.)

In John 4:13-14 (NRSVue), Jesus contrasts this spiritual water that is him with physical water as he advises the Samaritan woman:

¹³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. ¹⁴ But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

And yet we know physical water is also important to the life and well-being of God’s creation, to include us, those created in God’s image. Therefore, during this period of reflection, we, as Episcopal Church Women, will focus on Living Waters, that we are living waters because we are comprised of water and there are various sources of water important to life on this planet with which we interact and affect. While eternal life is important, we understand it is also important to care for and nourish life as we live it in the here and now, that we care for and protect creation.

In Genesis, the human did not live until God shared her breath and as we breathe, we exchange 10-17 ounces of water with the atmosphere on a daily basis. Each time we exhale, our breath carries invisible water vapor into the air. Our bodies, on average are 60% water and our skin constantly loses invisible moisture (insensible perspiration) directly to the air, adding another 13 – 20 ounces daily. These numbers increase if we actively exercise and perspire. As we breathe and perspire, our water joins the global water cycle. Once our breath water and perspiration enter the air as gas and join with water that evaporates from oceans, lakes, plants, and other sources, it all rises to form clouds and eventually falls back to earth as rain or snow.

We are one with the waters of creation

This week we will focus on how we are one with the waters of creation. As part of this journey, I’d like to introduce you to Kweli Kitwana. Kweli is an artist, a creative and she is an Artist in Residence with MANGO for the Ocean VII International Virtual Residency! https://oceandecade.org/events/ocean-virtual-art-residency/. As part of this residency, she has used Facebook postings to share her journey. I share, with her permission, a recent edited post- https://www.facebook.com/AfricanAmericanFabrics

This week, my project moved more deeply into the physical collection of memory. I have been gathering water and water stories as part of my exploration of the ocean as a sacred witness and keeper of memory. I am thinking about water not simply as something I observe, but as something that moves, carries, connects, and transforms. My collection is beginning to include very different relationships with water.

I have received from many of you actual water and stories connected to the Arkansas River, Memphis tap water drawn from the ancient Memphis Sands aquifer, Berkeley water, and stories connected to the Ohio River, Hawaii, and the Nile River in Egypt. One story remembers a childhood creek behind an elementary school our sons attended. Another brought me the Chinese saying, “When drinking water, remember the source.”

People have described water as cleansing and calming, as something that helps them sleep, as a place to float, and as a force that can carry the body through waves. These contributions are helping me understand something important about my project: we do not have to live beside an ocean to have a relationship with it.

A person may experience water through the river behind their home, a childhood creek, rain falling in their neighborhood, a well, an underground aquifer, a lake, or the water flowing from their kitchen tap. These seemingly local waters are part of much larger hydrological systems. Rivers travel toward other rivers, estuaries, bays, and oceans. Rain rises and returns. Underground water holds traces of ancient rainfall. Water continually crosses the boundaries we use to separate places.

For people who live inland, the ocean may therefore be present in their own “backyard” through the waterways that surround and sustain them.

This expands my understanding of interconnectedness. The Pacific Ocean I encounter from Ruby (her boat) at the Berkeley Marina is not the only entry point into this work. Someone standing beside the Arkansas River or remembering a childhood creek can enter the conversation too. The Memphis Sands aquifer introduces another scale of memory, water held underground over immense periods of time. The Nile carries another geography and cultural history. A caregiver befriended at a local swimming pool is another entry point. The Ohio River story carries an especially powerful ancestral dimension through its association with ancestors navigating toward freedom from enslavement.

These waters do not carry identical histories, and I do not want to collapse them into a single story. I am interested in what happens when they are allowed to exist beside one another as individual memories within an interconnected water system.

My visit to the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden expanded this exploration further. I spent time learning about dye plants and was given plant cuttings, flowers, leaves, and roots to continue experimenting with in my studio. I am now working with Indigofera, woad, madder root, alkanna, Cota tinctoria, and Coreopsis.

I began to realize I am interested in these plants as more than sources of color. I am thinking about them as remnants and carriers of histories. Because some of these plants have traveled across continents and oceans through trade, migration, colonization, and cultural exchange. Indigo, in particular, carries a complicated history connected to colonial economies and the labor and knowledge of enslaved Africans. Other plants allow me to think more symbolically about roots, land, sunlight, survival, hidden knowledge, and the places descendants eventually make home.

As a descendant of enslaved Africans, this brings another layer to my investigation. I am asking what my ancestors carried forward when so much was taken from them. Not only trauma, but knowledge, creativity, spirituality, resilience, love, beauty, and ways of understanding the natural world.

I am beginning to map each plant into this larger story: Indigo as passage, woad as empire, madder as roots, alkanna as hidden memory, Cota as light, and Coreopsis as descendant and place. I will extract colors from these plants onto cloth and paper while preserving some of the original plant material as part of my growing archive.

Now the water and plants are beginning to come together.

I am considering how collected waters, plant dyes, earth pigments, cloth, paper, photographs, and other remnants might become material records of these relationships. A piece of cloth may hold color extracted from a plant while also carrying the story of a particular water. A bottle of water may sit beside the plant remnant and textile it helped create. The process itself can become a mapping of place, movement, ancestry, and memory.

The word “remnant” has become important to me. A remnant is what remains, but it is not necessarily something incomplete. It can contain evidence of an entire story. A root, a piece of cloth, a photograph, a bottle of collected water, a dried flower, or a stain of pigment can hold a relationship to something much larger.

This week’s work is helping me understand that my project is not about recreating the past. It is about recognizing what remains, what has traveled, what connects us, and what continues.

The creek connects to the river.
The river connects to the ocean.
The rain connects to the aquifer.
The plant connects to the land.
The pigment connects to the plant.
The remnant connects to memory.
The ancestor connects to the descendant.

And I am somewhere within all of these relationships, receiving, observing, creating, and carrying something forward.

The water carries.
The plants carry.

I carry.

We are one with the waters of creation

If you are reading this on the ECW website, you are now invited to go to the ECW Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ecwnationalpage to participate in the first week’s assignment/reflection. If you are reading this on the ECW Facebook page, then you are ready to go.

• How did the bible verses affect how you understand water? How are you “one” with the waters of creation? What are those waters? Where do you find those waters? You might take a walk along a creek and realize your breath; your perspiration has been co-mingled with those waters. You might take a shower or turn on the tap or gather water from a well and realize you are also one with those waters. Or you must might go for a run and perspire and realize that water will join with others to form rain that will fall to the earth and replenish lakes, oceans, and aquifers or water the plants in your garden. As you dress and continue to reflect on Kweli’s writing, you realize how the fibers that form the cloth to make your clothes contains your breath, your sweat. How do you as “Living Waters” interact with other waters of creation? Share your stories past and present. Post pictures if you wish.

As you post your reflections (and pictures), take time to read what others are posting. Think about what you might have in common.