Around the World with CFCA

Sharing the water

March 3, 2010 at 2:06 pm Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) 3 comments

Lenten reflection week 3

The fact that she was coming to the well in the noonday sun was a tipoff. The “respectable” women of the village all came out in the cool of the morning to draw their water and gossip. So, being one of the more popular subjects of their gossip, this Samaritan woman preferred to come at noon when nobody else was supposed to be around.

Except that day, somebody else was around – Jesus. He was sitting right there by the well where she couldn’t avoid him. And just when she had decided to quickly get her water and get out of there before anybody saw her alone with this Jewish man (the last thing she needed with her reputation), he had the nerve to ask her for a drink of water!

She could have ignored him. She could have waited for him to leave. She could have turned around and gone home. But there was something about this stranger that compelled her to engage with him in conversation. That choice made all the difference.

What follows in this marvelous story from John’s Gospel (John 4:5-42) is a tale of living water, of death to the mistakes of the past, and a community transformed through the leadership of its least likely member. And all because one man asked one woman for a drink – and because that woman had the courage to push her comfort zone and make a graced connection.

At CFCA, we like to say we see potential instead of poverty. We learned that from Jesus, who always managed to see through the trappings and the labels into the true heart of a person. It really doesn’t take any special ability to do that, but it does take faith.

So, who’s asking you for a drink of water today?

Entry filed under: Around the World with CFCA. Tags: aging, cfca, children, christian, Lent, Lenten reflection.