"Erdhi uji!"
Jesus and the water truck song
“Eeeerdhi uuuji…..”
“What is that? What are they saying?” When I was new to life in Albania, I could not distinguish the words (in the language I did not yet know) as they rolled repeatedly out of the truck’s siren speakers in the mornings. With my balcony door open, I heard a range of melodic calls throughout the day that I learned to distinguish as the call to prayer from the nearby mosque, the invitation to bring out broken appliances, and finally, the water truck. Erdhi uji. The water came.
Because the city tap-water is not potable, one source of clean drinking water comes from the water trucks. They make their rounds through the narrow, winding neighborhood streets in the early mornings, proclaiming over and again that the water is here. Residents come out of their houses with empty water jugs in hand, coming to the truck to get them filled.
"Erdhi uji!" Here I am with life for you, life that's real and life that's true; Come and drink this water of life! What does it cost? Come with no money, come and drink, taste and see, then, as freely, bring others to the water, become a son, become a daughter, of rest and righteousness. What does it cost? Pick up your cross and follow me into the morning, into the dry places, cracked and splintering, come gently, like the dew, for I Am the Giver, Maker of all things new. What does it cost? In the drought, stand and proclaim reality: Like the rain and the snow and the seasons that come to water the earth, My Word has gone forth, My River has been planted in your belly, they do not come back empty, they bring to birth new life, fruit that is lasting, springs of water welling up into eternity.
Scripture references: Isaiah 26:19, 55, 66; Matthew 10:8,38, 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23, 14:27; John 4, 7.
