Taking The Waters
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While culture and traditions vary immensely, a sense of personal failure and having fallen short of the mark seems integral to us all.
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From Christian Baptism through to Jewish, Islāmic and Hindu purifications, the desire for some sort of redemption from our follies is often expressed by the symbolic act of washing.
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In India, beside almost every temple is a small reservoir or tank.
Often, before offering puja, the faithful will bathe in these waters.
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On Sunday we visited the Suchindram Temple, just across the state border in Tamil Nadu.
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Strolling around the temple tank,
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We watched the bathing and laundering,
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The houses and people,
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And made the most of the facilities.
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“Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.”
Psalm 51.7
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“Cleanliness is next to Godliness” *
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*The origin of “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, a common proverb, dates as far back as ancient Hebrew writings and possibly longer.
‘While some attribute to the Bible, it’s actually not found there. The known English appearance of the proverb is from the writings of Sir Francis Bacon in 1605. In his ‘Advancement of Learning’ Bacon wrote, “Cleanness of body was ever deemed to proceed from a due reverence to God.” Roughly 200 years later, John Wesley used the words we are now familiar with, “Cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness” ‘
From: reference.com
Neither Use Nor Ornament 