John Richards: Oppressive heat and Living Water. The severe weather alerts that are broadcast from new agencies and weather stations advise us to drink plenty of fluids to help our bodies cope with the life threatening and oppressive heat. In the Bible water is used as an allegory for Spirit. The modern world we live in is an inhospitable place, where anger, violence, crime, greed, and hate all assault us on a daily basis, and are just as dangerous as the heat. There are many who thirst and are worn down, many who are weak and in need of refreshment. Jesus said in The Gospel of John 4:14, “whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."