A MESSAGE FROM THE REV. J.C. AUSTIN: GETTING THE BASICS
There’s an old story about multiple generations of a family gathered around the Thanksgiving table discussing what they are most thankful for, and one of the adults asks, “What modern convenience are you most thankful for?”
They all think for a few minutes, then begin to answer. “Air conditioning,” 
says one, remembering the heat of the previous summer. “The Internet!” one of the teens says, wondering how people kept up with their friends before texting and social media. “Refrigeration,” one of the older parents says, remembering how their own parents called the fridge “the icebox” because her family received deliveries of huge ice blocks several times a week to keep their food refrigerated in an actual icebox before electric refrigerators were widely available. Everyone around the table nodded at that one, thinking that this was really putting things into perspective.
Until the matriarch of the family spoke up, that is: “running water,” she said simply. Nobody else around the table had even considered that as an option, it was so much of a given in their lives. It seemed like the opposite of a luxury; it was both a necessity and such a baseline fact of modern life that it never occurred to anyone to name it.
But running water is very much a luxury, and very much not a given in many parts of the world, even today. It is hard to overestimate the transformative power of having immediate access to clean, running water. In the absence of that, people have to walk miles and miles to a water source, then carry that water back to their homes.
Given that the task is usually assigned to women and girls, the lack of access to clean running water is a major obstacle in their education, who spend hours of the time they should be in school fetching water instead. UNICEF estimates that women and girls spend an aggregate of 200 million hours A DAY just fetching water.
As you may have heard Cindy Simmons or Steve Simmons, our Parish Associates, say in worship last week, the annual CROP Walk is coming up next Sunday, October 8. Walkers will gather at the church for lunch (along with donors) and then proceed to the walk.
The CROP Walk is an ecumenical event sponsored by Church World Service that raises money for people who do not have access to adequate food or clean water. Between now and then, I want to invite you to try an exercise. Make a note of every time you utilize clean running water at your house over the week: every time you get a drink, wash your hands, take a shower, do the dishes, brush your teeth, etc.
It’s an eye-opening experience, especially when you consider the alternative is to have to walk an average of 4 miles (according to USAID) roundtrip to fetch water if you weren’t lucky enough to have a well nearby, and the return trip would be done with an average of 40-50 pounds of water in a bucket on your head or back.
If you can walk on October 8, it’s a wonderful way to raise both money and awareness about the desperate need that millions of people have for the things we take for granted so easily. And if you cannot walk, I encourage to donate at this link to support our team’s walk. And let us continue to be mindful of how we can serve our neighbors, both nearby and around the world, as Jesus calls us to do.
Grace and Peace,
J.C.