Here is a prayer I wrote in response to the discovery of what appears to be a subsurface, liquid lake on Mars last week.

You are the God of water and life.

Your Spirit hovered over the waters at creation,
before you separated light from darkness
and fixed a boundary between the waters of heaven and earth.

You sent a flood in the time of Noah,
destroying and cleansing the earth,
yet sparing a few by your great mercy.

You parted the Sea and the River
so your people could pass through safely
on their way home.

You made streams spring up in the desert
to turn the arid expanse into a meadow,
a passage of safety and sustenance on their way home.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”

The raging flood,
the impassable sea,
the dry desert
have all become Baptism.

In the earthly water we meet you,
because you came to meet us in the River.
fulfilling all righteousness.

In the heavenly water we meet you,
because you made the universe,
and the firmament you set is no barrier to your presence and power.

Should we marvel to find water on other worlds?
Lakes and oceans on celestial bodies,
Europa, Enceladus, Mars?

Even across the reaches of space,
Nothing is beyond you.
You’ve brought forth water from a rock before.

The icy worlds,
the cold worlds,
the dry worlds,
may yet become Baptism.

You are the God of water and life.