We praise God for the recent rains. And for the forecast of more rains coming. Yet California’s water crisis is far from being solved. It has been estimated that it will take something like thirteen seasons of significant wet weather before California can fully recover from the current drought.
A recent investigative report on California’s water crisis reveals that there already exist certain technologies, developed in California, which may provide solutions to the crisis. These technologies have already been applied in places like Australia and the Middle East. And they appear to be quite successful. But the question raised is this: Why is California itself not availing of these technologies?
According to the report, the companies that provide these possible solutions have to go through many hoops to get permits even just begin to set up the necessary systems. One factor, for example, is that in California there are “412 water districts and over 2,900 smaller water suppliers” that constitute a “fractured system.” Just trying to identify the office or person who is supposed to be in-charge of the water system in the state appears to be an impossible task. It seems that, to put it rather simplistically, there are too many voices that want to be recognized, and too many authorities that want to hold on to their importance, that the necessary action and development is hampered and nothing gets accomplished.
I will not pretend that I fully understand the complexity of the situation. But that one picture of a “fractured system” is ample material to highlight the importance of finding the center from which any system should operate. It may be an individual’s life, or a group—such as a church and its ministries. Identifying that center may provide a clear sense of identity, of one’s reason for existence, and of the kind of pursuits and activities that will prove truly worthwhile.
My mindset is unashamedly Christian. I believe God is the only appropriate center for all life, “for in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17.28 NIV). And God has revealed himself supremely in Jesus the Christ. It is only as we learn to center ourselves (or church) in Christ that we truly discover who we are and what we exist for. We learn not to allow the many voices that call for our attention and the many demands upon our allegiance, but instead focus on the one Voice and one Demand that truly matters—that of Christ. We establish ourselves in a “cohesive system.” Then, we will pursue and engage in the things that correspond perfectly with who we are and what we are about in Christ.
—Keith Y. Jainga