blog first published on June 29, 2016
photo taken at Mesa Verde by Walt Lichtenberger
The Ancestral Pueblo people built vast cities and ceremonial complexes in the side of the sandstone cliffs of the southwest. Although you can see the remnants of their existence throughout the region, the greatest concentration of the cliff dwellings seems to be gathered in Mesa Verde national park. Here you can walk through Balcony House or Cliff Palace and see the walls, passageways, ladders, and aged timbers from another time. In the centuries, long since gone, of their habitation of this place the Ancestral Pueblo people farmed the mesa tops and lived in the relative safety of the cliffs. They used techniques of dry farming because the land is arid. Water is still a prized commodity. No streams run on the mesa above nor in the canyons below. Rainfall was infrequent and insufficient for daily consumption. So how did they get their needed water? How did they remain hydrated for generations in this remote place?
Seeping pools. In the back of the cliff, where the natural ceiling connects to the floor there are little pools of water. Like a gigantic filter, the sandstone cliffs filtrate the water as gravity pulls it downwards. It takes time, for sure, but it is a constant process so you can fill your cup in the pool and it will replenish again and again. The water is good, cool, and refreshing. In the back of each of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, seeping pools have been found. Though the people who lived there are long gone, remembered in only the sacred stories of the modern Pueblo people and in the reconstructions of anthropologists, the seeping pools remain. They continue to offer the blessing of water.
What are the things that nourish and refresh our spiritual lives? Where are the places that abundantly provide for our faith during dry and arid times? Where are our seeping pools to be found hidden in the back of our caves and dwellings?
For centuries, the sacraments have provided "seeping pool" daily sustenance for Christians. In bread and wine, water and oil, thirsty souls have been refreshed. These sacred connections come as gifts for life itself. Instead of limited natural elements processed through thick layers of sandstone, these sacraments are embodied with the abundant life of the Creator. Through all the changes and challenges of the ages, they remain present in the worship life of the church. Remain and await, like a seeping pool, to be dipped into...
Permission granted to share with family and friends. Copyrighted 2016. Walt Lichtenberger