The Essence of Life

We were born before the wind Also younger than the sun Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic — Van Morrison, "Into the Mystic"

The lyrics go on to say that, when the foghorn blows, he will be coming home and won't have to fear it.

That captures the concept. It is amazing to see how music can express the things we authors try to say with words. Music sums up the thousands upon thousands of words used by some authors who explore the lofty subjects of creation, life, and death. One example is "Into the Mystic."

There are many reasons that humans are attracted to water and the sea. Water is essential to all life; nothing can live without it. It is a prime essence for life. Our bodies are made up of many chemicals and an internal sea that acts as a solvent and helps transfer things in and out of our bodies. That is one reason I offer, based on physiology. We simply can't live without it, and our bodies are made up largely of water, as is our planet. Humans need water; when early humans left the forests, they searched for bodies of water and usually settled along them. Scientists searching the skies, to this day, state that, if water is ever discovered somewhere, there likely is some form of life.

Evolutionists say that life emerged from the sea, and there is a subliminal desire embedded within us to return to our origin. From early life on, children take pleasure in splashing and playing in water, as many adults do on vacation. Therefore, our brains must have some affinity to water that drives us to feelings of happiness.

There are theories that human brains started to grow rapidly after we separated from the early forests and began to live close to water. People started to eat fish and other products of the sea. As a physician, I know that fish are plush with omega-3 fatty acids. This fatty substance is necessary for brain development and brain function. Our brains expanded rapidly. We know that modern nutrition recommends consuming fish products. Medical literature also shows that those who ingest a lot of fish suffer from less depression.

It is no wonder then that ancient cultures lived near and revered water sources, perhaps not knowing the things we just reviewed. In history and in modern times, we see initiations and death ceremonies filled with reverence, including baptism with water, the cleansing of hands and body with water, and the simple happiness and peace one gets from staring out to sea. I think of the Greek and Egyptian mortuary ceremonies for the ancient dead. They involved traveling to another world on a river. In the Viking mortuary ceremony, the departed is set out to sea aflame. In the ancient Jewish tradition, the priests' hands were washed in a consecration ceremony on the Day of Atonement. As I am writing these words, it is the time of Passover and Easter. Water is represented as the removal of pollution during the Passover meal, and there is a ritual use of water during the Seder and a remembrance of the exodus by the parting of the sea. Jews also remove the pollution of exposure to death when leaving the cemetery before returning home. Water has ritual use in Christianity (holy water), as well as in many other religions for spiritual cleansing. It becomes part of the last rites before one dies.

The Hindu love of the Ganges as a cleansing of both body and soul (spirit) as a religious rite is well known. The concept is that life is ongoing and cyclical. Each world is destroyed in preparation for the next. The various gods or manifestations of gods known as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are involved in the cyclical creation and destruction that occurs over and over. The belief is that there are more creations than drops of water in the Ganges. In India, the sacred River Ganges embodies the water of life for Hindus. Legend has it that the Ganges is the river that f lows beyond its earthly bounds to Moksha, the realm of nirvana.

Water is used as a means to protect against evil and in other ways. Jeremiah describes God as "the fountain of living waters" ( Jeremiah 2:13; 17:13). Juan Ponce de León tried to deny aging by looking for the fountain of youth. Martin Luther King Jr. said in one of his sermons, "Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream." Many people go to healing spas to enjoy the pools and hot tubs. Nutritionists advise all of us to drink a lot of water. Doctors of medicine add water therapy to the healing process.

I enjoy this quote by the famous author Mark Twain, who looked at water in an interesting way: "High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water." I guess we can add a touch of humor by mentioning the fictional comic strip character Bathless Groggins, who was created by Al Capp. He is the ultimate contrarian to all that has been said. Water for him seems unnecessary, and he resists it. Since we are talking about the essence of water, in opposition, he becomes the atheist.

We find another instance in the Bible, where the sea is referred to in a different light –as a sea beast to be feared. The leviathan is mentioned by name in the book of Job but is also present in many ancient sea narratives, where a primeval monster is defeated by the gods. There is also the legend of Jonah and the great whale. There's the tale of Noah and the great flood, in which God punished the wickedness of civilization by wiping it out.

A flood narrative is also seen in many cultures. There is a sea creature known in Scottish legend as Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, an aquatic being that reputedly inhabits Loch Ness in the Highlands. Water is often associated with danger and death. This is true not only in the aforementioned examples but also with all the floods and tsunamis in our world today. For those who are spiritualistic, Nostradamus, a physician and astrologer who lived during the sixteenth century, would stare into a bowl filled with water. While observing the liquid, he would "receive" visions of the future. Some claim that, as a seer, he...