too wet, too cold, too hot

But then I would never describe water as being sacred.

Sacred is a personal perception dependent on a chosen, adopted or enforced belief system. We regard something as being sacred only because we believe it to be. Sacredness disperses with disbelief. If I went to India, I would respect the beliefs of the people that the cows were sacred. That does not mean that I would believe that they were sacred. However, I would rightly suffer the consequences if I violated the locally accepted sacredness. Without changing my belief system, I can and should respect that of others. I will observe that cows are sacred to others, but the cows will not be sacred to me.