A story about a woman who went to get some water
I was reading John 4:1 – 30 about the woman who went to get water from the well. I imagined going there too and encountering a stranger who knows me through and through. I imagined him engaging me in an interaction allowing him to take me where he willed. I’ve attempted to capture what he offered, so simple yet sometimes so hard – to accept his help, his doing for us rather than us doing for ourselves…
Hot, sweaty, aching I arrive,
Empty water vessels
released to fall to the dry, barren ground.
Here I am again, again, again.
The dryness surrounding me
echoes my internal world,
broken ground, broken heart.
Weariness has companioned me – again.
I am seen before seeing,
noticed before noticing.
He looks into the ache
and I turn away.
He speaks even though I don’t want to listen
and I hear something new,
something alive,
something true
even though I cannot remember the words.
Our interaction is short
yet my world is altered,
shifted never to return to its original setting.
I am seen,
truly seen.
I am opened wide,
revealing the ache,
revealing tired bones
and hurting heart.
As he fills my water vessels,
so I too am filled.
“Let me do that for you,”
the only words I will remember
the only words that are needed today.
“Let me do that for you.”
LET ME DO THAT FOR YOU.