When the taps run dry: From Kent to Kyiv

Just recently, the Thorp family has suffered a ‘MAJOR CRISIS’ – our dishwasher stopped working! You wouldn’t believe how frustrating and inconvenient it has been to have to wash up our plates, cups and cutlery by hand. We’ve also come to appreciate just how good our dishwasher has been at doing the dishes compared to our rather inferior ‘do it yourself version’. It’s embarrassing!

However, it did make me feel sorry for the poor people of Kent and Sussex who have suffered one of the most prolonged and disruptive water outages in recent years, blamed largely on Storm Goretti, low levels of water storage and power cuts. Kent County Council declared the matter to be a major incident in January because it affected over 30,000 homes, hospitals, schools and public services leading to many people having to rely on bottled water. Inevitably this led to criticism from the Prime Minister and other politicians who have blamed Southeast Water for their poor management and lack of investment. But at least we know that their woes and water supply issues will be resolved eventually.

The same can’t be said for the poor people of Kyiv who, as I write, are without power and water and suffering one of Ukraine’s harshest winters with temperatures bitterly cold at -19C. Life may be miserably fearful and uncertain but as one elderly lady commented ‘her discomfort is nothing compared with what the soldiers on the front are enduring’ as they continue to confront the ongoing Russian assault.

Whatever our inconveniences might be in the UK, they pale into insignificance compared to the suffering of many, and the free-flowing gift of power and water should never be taken lightly or for granted.

The Bible reminds us that as pressing and urgent as our physical needs might be, they are not the whole picture. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (says Jesus), for they will be filled” (Matthew 5.6). God is a god of love and justice and he requires his people to be the same. Good will, will prevail if people continue to obey the two great commandments of Christ, which are to ‘love God and their neighbour as themselves’ (Matthew 22.37-40). In fact, spiritually speaking, Jesus declares that not only is he able, like water, to cleanse us of our sin when we put our faith and trust in him and his atoning death upon the cross, but also as we discover in his conversation with the Samaritan woman, he can slake our thirst as we accept him to be the ‘living water’ which is able to satisfy our spiritual needs both in this life and beyond. So may this perspective encourage us to count our blessings, whether we be in good times or bad - and also enhance our concern for others.

With best wishes. Stephen Thorp.

John 4.13–14

¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

This article was published in the February editions of the Parish Magazines associated with the Necton Benefice - Parish Link and Moonraker.

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