THE  OLD  WOMAN 

AND  THE  YOUNG  WOMAN 

AT  THE  WELL*

  

“Mam, it’s a hot day. Can I get you a drink of cold water.”

“Yes, you can. Thank you.”

And the young woman got the old woman a jug of cold water from the well.

And the old woman said, “Do you have time?”

And the young woman said, “Yes.”

“Well, pardon the pun, can I tell you a story about that well right there?”

“Yes, you can. Thank you,” said the young woman - who sat down - next to the old lady - on a chair - just outside the old woman’s house - both of them drinking nice cold well water on a hot, hot day.

They were facing the well.

It was about noon.

“Many, many years ago a man at that very same well asked me the very same question you asked me - but in reverse,  ‘Could you give me a drink of water?’”

“He was all by himself. His disciples had gone into town. That’s where I lived then - in town - but I live out here now - right close to the well - the  place where my life changed.”

Pointing, she said, “I was walking up that  road there - and I spotted someone at the well.”

“He was just sitting there - looking down into the waters of the well.”

“He looked up when he sensed someone was coming towards the well.”

“I always went there at noontime - because the women in the village didn’t like me or trust me. When I walked by, I could see them hold onto their husbands arms a bit more tighter - especially when the men gave me the look - the once over. Honey,  I didn’t have all these wrinkles way back then - way back when.”

“Who was he  and what was his name?” the young woman asked.

“His name was Jesus.”

“I didn’t know that at the moment.”

“I thought it strange that a man would talk to a woman - especially a Samaritan woman - a woman who was labeled a Bad Samaritan.”

“Anyway, he asked me for a drink of water - and I gave him one.”

“But first, he began talking about another kind of water, and I had no clue what he was talking about.”

“I was to discover that he was  a dreamer - a prophet - a holy man. You should have seen his eyes. Woooooo! Wooo! He could look right through you and see every secret of the soul.”

“And he didn’t make me nervous. Instead, he woke up and shook up and stirred up deep instincts inside of me.”

“He knew about my 5 husbands - and the man I was living with at the time - who was not my husband.”

The young woman said, “Wait! What did you just say. Run that by me again. You had 5 husbands - 6 men. Wow. You must have been a legend in your time.”

“More than a legend honey. More than a legend.”

By now the young woman had turned sideways - to look at - and hear every word the old woman told her and watch every expression on her face and every gesture of her hands and body.

She was waking up deep instincts and deep interests in the young woman’s soul.

“Well, his name was Jesus. He was a prophet and a preacher - and he told me everything I ever did.”

“I gave him water from that well - that day.”

“He opened up a well -  deep, deep inside of me - from which sprang living water - a well that is within each of us.”

Pointing to her heart, the old woman continued, with great joy in her eyes and words,  “The springs of living water - which can give all of us eternal life - are here within me and within you, honey - all our life - but many of us don’t know this - and the springs are often blocked up.”

There was a long pause after that comment.

The old woman continued, “That happened to me that day - at that well [POINTING] - and every day ever since.”

The young woman said, “What was his name again?”

“Jesus. His name was Jesus.”

Then the old lady continued, “I’m surprised you never heard of him.”

“Thanks to me, I’m bragging here, he stayed here for two more days, talking to anyone who wanted to listen. And many of those who listened had the same experience I had. Praise God. Then he left with his disciples and preached throughout Galilee and then down to Jerusalem - where they killed him.”

“Killed him?

“Yes killed him - because he was a dreamer as I said - and a prophet as I said….  And they kill prophets. They always do.”

“After that I told everyone I ever met about the man who told me everything I ever did.”

“And some followed him - like I’m still following him.”

“What do you mean,” the young woman asked,  “followed him?”

“Well that man - I met at that well - right there - in this spot - [POINTING] - saved me. In time - it takes time - a life time - well I learned - he is the Lord. He is the Savior. He is the Living Water. He is the Bread of Life. He is the Light of the World. He is God who walked amongst us - of all places - here in Palestine.”

[PAUSE]

“That’s what I believe and that’s what I now know.”

And after he died - after he was crucified - he rose from the dead - and ascended back to heaven - to God his father.

“You’re kidding. [PAUSE] No, it looks like you’re serious - very serious.”

Then the old lady  - figuring she said a whole well full of words - for this young woman to drink and savor - and hopefully swallow, knew she better make her main message - which she had told hundreds and hundreds of people at this very spot - so far - right within eye sight of the well. “And there are many of us - here and there - here in Palestine - and there in some of the Greek cities - who meet to celebrate his presence in our midst - the well of living water that never runs out - as well as the bread of life and the living cup of salvation - and then live his life in love and in service to the full.”

“And, oops, a little bragging here,” the old woman said to the young woman, “Two of the men who I told about Jesus to - who came back to this well that day - both Samaritans like me -  became part of the story telling  of Jesus. He loved to tell about  the Good Samaritan and the 10th Person with Leprosy, the only one who came back to thank Jesus for his healing.”

“So honey thanks for the water - now you know all my secrets.” 

The young  woman was crying.

The old lady asked, “How about your soul - can you sense what’s going on in your soul right now.”

The young woman was now crying some of that living water.  Tears were flowing down her face.  She told the old woman, “Thank you. Thank you. There are so many things in my soul that I haven’t listened to all these years. As you spoke I could hear trickles of water starting to drip, drip in my soul. Thank you.”

The old lady said, “Thank me? No thank Jesus for bringing you to this well today. That’s what happened to me that one day in my life that  changed every day in my life after it.”

“And if you want, we secretly meet here at my house every Sabbath for the Eucharist and some food - and we have great water - just 30 yards away.” 

OOOOOOOOOOO

Painting on top: Judith Fritchman, Living Water: The Woman at the Well, 2008

* Story by Andy Costello, [© Andy Costello - Stories 2017]