Living Bubbler

I was born in Wisconsin. There are some unique aspects to life in Wisconsin. People wear fake cheese on their heads. Intersections must have no fewer than 2 "taverns" on the street corners. The Friday Fish Fry is central to life, not for religious reasons, but just for the love of fried fish. Only after living outside of Wisconsin for twenty years did I come to discover that yes indeed there is a Wisconsin accent. But even after calling far off places like Michigan, Iowa, Ohio, and Illinois home, I still can't help but call drinking fountains... bubblers. That's right bubblers! In Wisconsin the fountain is not named after what a person does at it, but by the sound it makes when it is turned on: "bubble... bubble... bubble."

I love drinking water, so bubblers have been very important to me. I still remember my favorite bubbler at the University of Michigan. It was on the first floor of Angell Hall. It was cold, powerful and delicious every time. Those are the keys to a good bubbler: the water must be cold, it must taste like clean water and not some rusty stuff, and there must be enough water pressure to produce a good flow. "C" hall in my high school had a really good bubbler. I discovered recently that the bubblers in the upper deck of Miller Park in Milwaukee are quite good. When you don't want to pay another $4.50 for a watered down soda, you can be confident that you can have your thirst quenched by the fine bubblers there. Even Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field has some pretty good bubblers.

For a while I was on the bottled water kick, but a "green" conscience (I mean saving money more than the planet) has led me to return to good old bubblers. After all... I'm only human... and humans need water to survive. We will die if we don't drink water. The bubbler is society's gift to a thirsty community.

People have always needed water. In the days before indoor plumbing the daily need for water meant constant drudgery for woman traveling the distance to the water source. It was just part of life. When Jesus encounters a woman at a well in John 4 she was in the midst of performing this daily task. In the course of their conversation with each other Jesus tells her that if she had asked, he would have given her "living waters." The woman eyes got wide... no doubt envisioning a bubbler for her dining room. It would mean no more daily trips to the well. Give me this water, is her response. But of course Jesus is speaking about our spiritual needs and faith. He didn't mean a bubbler in every home. Just as the body needs water to survive we likewise need Jesus to survive spiritually. Jesus is the spiritual equivalent of water.

In my life I have discovered great bubblers in some strange places. Who knew that the Sox Park would even have a bubbler, much less a good one. Likewise we can find "Living Waters" in some strange places as well... and when we least expect it. We all need Jesus... we need his love... we need all that he offers us through faith. Without him we find ourselves in a spiritual Death Valley. Look for those sources of "Living Waters" in the unexpected places... but also don't neglect the obvious places. When you practice living the 7 priorities of faith you are drinking from the bubbler of Living Waters. Give us this water always!

"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37b-38).'"