We had a snafu recently post home renovation and found ourselves without water for a day. Just one day. Yet it felt like an eternity as we floundered our way through the day with no clean water. Oh, the hardship was negligible, considering we could drive to the store and buy gallon jugs of clean water and we could walk to the Y to shower. We also could easily walk to a bevy of restaurants to feed our bellies and quench our thirst. A day without water was a hassle, and it left me thinking what daily life must be for so many around the world whose lives are as dependent on lean water as mine yet access is exponentially more difficult.
I saw it for myself in Uganda. I’ve seen it in India. Access to clean water is a basic need among humans and all God’s creatures. When we saw Jimmy Carter teach Sunday school he spoke eloquently about the value of water and the hazards polluted water imposes on so many communities around the world. A few molecules of periodic table elements that all life depends on. It’s quite marvelous to ponder on really, if you take the time to stop and ponder in the midst if your busy day.
Have you read A Long Walk too Water? I read it with my sons, and it has shaped our view of the world more than anything we have read. Water that we frolic in, splash away the heat, gulp down in wondrous relief on a hot day, we take it for granted.
So many don’t enjoy the luxury of a water.
We can help.
Now for every share of the hashtag #7BillionLiters on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram between April 15-22 (12:00 am – 11:59 pm EST), P&G will donate an additional liter of clean drinking water (up to 1 million additional liters) to people that need it around the world. Check out my friend Jim’s experience turning dirty pond water into clean drinking water.
Think about that the next time you turn on the tap, chug some water, and wipe the droplets from your chin.
