We are probably all familiar with the story of the Woman at the Well from John 4. Many sermons I have heard about her start by setting the scene of the woman coming to the Well in the heat at midday, indicating she is an outcast, shunned and rejected by her society. The passage goes on to say she had had five husbands – so how many relatives, in-laws, children. If she was on Facebook, her relationship status would be “it’s complicated”.
Whenever I read this passage, I am reminded of a chapter in “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, where a merchant is trying to sell a pill that quenches thirst:
““Why are you selling those?” asked the little prince.
“Because they save a tremendous amount of time,” said the merchant. “Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week.”
“And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?”
“Anything you like...”
“As for me,” said the little prince to himself, “if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.”
Rather than judging the woman, perhaps we should for a while walk alongside her. Rather than seeing the outcast, can we see someone seeking a still place, where she could escape the noise of her complex life? The well would be quiet at midday and she could walk at her leisure toward a spring of fresh water. There she encountered Jesus, who, unlike the merchant, does not offer a pill that temporarily quenches physical thrust.
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4: 13-14 [NIV]
Let us find those quiet spaces, where we can encounter Jesus, spend time drinking from the spring of water that wells up to eternal life, where we can allow God to change us.
Father, help us find quiet spaces to be with Jesus in our busy lives.
Guy Mowbray
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