"Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate that faces towards the east; and the water was coming out on the south side.
Going on eastwards with a cord in his hand, the man measured one thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the waist. Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. He said to me, ‘Mortal, have you seen this?’
Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on one side and on the other. He said to me, ‘This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. 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. People will stand fishing beside the sea from En-gedi to En-eglaim; 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. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 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.’ "
I've always loved this bit of Ezekiel (it's an odd book - it has flashes of great and strange beauty, combined with a good deal of anger and bitterness - and an interest in ritualism and church architecture even I find a bit tedious. )
We had it for group Lectio this morning, which was lovely, because it's so rich. The living water, which is an obvious symbol for God's presence, always makes me think of the Vidi Aquam (the antiphon used at the Asperges/ Sprinkling in Eastertide) - I beheld water, which proceeded from the temple, on the right side thereof. And so I also think of Christ as the new temple, and of the Crucifixion ("Wash me with water flowing from thy side.") Someone else said they were reminded of Catherine of Sienna's thing about the soul being in God as the fish is in the sea.
But I also find it cheering, and healthy, to contemplate the way in which the living water bubbles up from beneath the temple (and there's another association, because I wonder if it wasn't at the back of S. John's mind when he has Jesus promise the Samaritan woman 'a spring of water welling up to eternal life'*) You can also take the temple as a symbol of the church - which is both the body of Christ and a human institution prone to sin and, at times, to obscuring God rather than revealing him. But despite our worst efforts, the water wells up, sometimes despite ourself, flowing out to heal and sustain those to whom it comes...
* Especially if the suggestion that the passage should be translated so that the water is welling up out of Jesus' heart, not the believer's. The Greek is very ambiguous, because the pronoun use is very vague. And it's possible that the ambiguity is deliberate, because even if it is welling up in the believer's heart, the source is still Christ).
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