Thirst

“The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’” (John 4:42).

The Samaritan Woman at the Well (Julio Romero de Torres)

I have been reflecting on the story of the Samaritan woman.

That Samaritan woman was there in the middle of the day at a well.  Women of that era would not have ordinarily travelled to a well in the heat of the middle of the day.  Typically women would have gone to the well first thing in the morning when the sun was low in the sky and their chores were ahead of them.  Those women would have travelled with empty jars and returned with full jars.  It was hot work to collect water – but necessary work.  Without the water collected there could be no cooking, no washing and no drinking throughout the day.  They would not have been able to tend to their duties.  The Blessed Virgin – like all the women in her time of a similar social status – would also have travelled to the well every morning, possibly before the men in the home were awake…

And I have been thinking in particular about that Samaritan woman.  There she was at the most inopportune time of the day – collecting water from the well.  She was likely very hot and tired.  Perhaps she was there at that time because she was not well liked by the other women of the village?  Perhaps some bad thing had happened to her that morning that had prevented her from walking to the well that day?  Perhaps someone was unwell or she was unwell?  Perhaps there was no money for her to buy supplies from the market that day?  Perhaps her husband had been unkind to her?

We shall never know the problem that caused the woman to be late to the well that day, but we certainly know the reason…

She was supposed to meet Christ that day at the well…  Perhaps as she walked the long dusty road from her home to the well, the Angels danced in the sky above her – their joy invisible to her human eyes?  It was for this moment that Christ had passed by and there she was – at the well – at that time…

“There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’...  The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water’...  The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’” (John 4:5-42).

The woman had come for water.  But Christ satisfied a different thirst for her that day and offered salvation to all the world through her – not only to the Chosen Children of Israel…

And I have been thinking about that today.  For it seems that every time there is a problem or an inconvenience, I see only the hot and dusty road before me.  When things go wrong, I feel the injustice of having to walk to the well in the middle of the day when all the other women have walked there in the early morning.  But what I fail to see is who is waiting at the well – just for me.  I fail to see the angels who are dancing joyfully overhead as I tread that tired road.  Instead I see my own misery and fail to see my destination.

For I see today – through the story of the Samaritan woman – that there is Christ standing at every well after a long hot and dusty walk.  And He is there to give me water – for I thirst…  I thirst…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.