Just finished The Natural History of the Bible. As I noted in the previous blog, this is an interesting book about the impact of geography and topography on Israel as depicted in the scriptures. One of the most interesting arguments that the writer makes is that the Israelites were exposed to a variety of different "water" regions and this exposure prepared them for their theological confession of one god, Yahweh (the hebrew name for God most often translated, the Lord). At one time in their history, the Israelites were nomadic (Abraham, et. al.), at another they were slaves in Egypt and exposed to the the regularity of the Nile river, at yet another they lived in the highlands of Galilee with it's regular, but irregular, rainfall. Each of these regions developed polytheistic religions that helped them account for and explain the presence or lack of water. It is fascinating that in most of these religions creation's beginnings are somehow related to water. Anyway, the writer suggests that the exposure to these different water environs and different religions helped the Israelites refine their understanding of the God who made promises to Abraham and Sarah, delivered the slaves from Egypt and delighted in King David. This particular book makes a convincing case that faith is influenced by geography, and in particular, the availability of water in that region. Thus, the conviction that we at Palms are surrounded by water and this truth impacts our faith has some precendent in understanding the faith of our Israelite ancestors. For instance, the fact that we take for granted the availability of adequate and clean drinking water impacts our faith, either conciously or subconciously. As the Walkers are about to head to another watery environ, the Pacific NW, I look forward to further reflection on this thesis and exploration of the biblical images of water. More later...