Edina Hall
Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
When I was in graduate school, my friend and I wondered what it would be like to talk to Jesus in person.
It was a thought we had when looking for comfort during stressful times or we were feeling particularly disconnected in our faith journey. We had a lot of questions!
Despite how our conversation played out in our minds, it always took place on the banks of Boulder Creek with a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and three spoons.
In the reading appointed for today (John 4:1-26), it is nearly that scenario.
A Samaritan woman drawing water at Jacob’s Well meets Jesus sitting alone nearby. She’s not expecting to talk to him as “Jews do not associate with Samaritans” but Jesus engages her in conversation.
It begins as a playful banter, but gets more serious. I imagine that it was the kind of conversation that finds people comfortable sharing their vulnerable selves—connecting quickly and deeply. It may have been that kind of conversation where no one else exists and time stands still.
It is in this exchange that the woman learns that Jesus is the Messiah.
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Reading further (John 4:27-42), it is revealed that this deep conversation, this discernment with Jesus, causes her to leave her water jar behind and go to the town to share the good news of the Messiah’s arrival. The woman is heard by her people and “because of his word, many more became believers.”
I suppose in our naivete my friend and I thought that our creek-side ice cream feast with Jesus would have answered our questions and/or given us peace. We never considered that our whole lives might have been upended and we would have been transformed.
As we begin our Lenten journey, we are invited to observe Lent “by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 265)
We are invited to be vulnerable with God and to be open for transformation that awaits us. We are invited to be by the well… by the creek.
I’ve got my spoon ready.
—Edina
