Water and the Spirit

Drought and flood, too little and too much, are alike man's bane. Water is at once a blessing and a curse. In the biblical tradition it has been chosen for a villainous role: from the primeval abyss through to the Deluge, from the threat of the Red Sea to the menace of Assyria's overflowing river, from the flood that would overwhelm the Psalmist to the great waters that were the throne of persecuting Rome, this one element of the four has played its malicious part. Of its nature unruly, it symbolizes the chaos which would, if it could, defy the check and order of God. But it can be harnessed. The controlling spirit of God dominates the first abyss, his hand shuts the doors of the cataracts of heaven; he divides the obstructing Sea, Emmanuel survives the cascades of Assyria; God delivers his Psalmist from great waters and, like Daniel's beasts, the Prostitute is thrust back into the abyss from which she came.