My favorite Bible story is the Woman at the Well in John 4.
Jesus is walking along with his disciples (see Hot Tea at Dawn). They come to a well at midday and stop for a rest. There's a tree to sit under (oh, was that just my imagination?), and the disciples trek into town to find something to eat, while Jesus rests. He gets in a conversation with a woman who comes for water. That's strange, because women don't come for water at midday. That's strange because men don't talk to women. But these two end up talking about life-changing issues--the woman goes back to her neighborhood with renewed life; Jesus can continue his journey refreshed with liquid water and fortified by a meaningful interaction.
I can picture the tree, huge, overshadowing the well and the road, with a built up stone platform at the right height for leaning loads on, and for setting out a picnic lunch on. I can picture the water, with women gathering at dawn and dusk chatting as they wait in line to fill, and hoisting their jugs up with water that must last the day. The complex routine of who gets to go first is well-established and practical, to avoid dispute. If you need to do laundry, you have to wait till the end, no matter what your rank. When a man comes by, he jumps the whole line, but he knows better than to linger. He definitely doesn't come to talk. I can picture the well, abandoned and dry at the middle of the day because there is no one to draw the water.
I tried to take a picture of it once, and it broke the camera. There was too much to fit in a print. (I also had the lens pointing directly into the sun. This was the old days, when that mattered.) Imagine what Jesus would talk with you about!
Jesus is walking along with his disciples (see Hot Tea at Dawn). They come to a well at midday and stop for a rest. There's a tree to sit under (oh, was that just my imagination?), and the disciples trek into town to find something to eat, while Jesus rests. He gets in a conversation with a woman who comes for water. That's strange, because women don't come for water at midday. That's strange because men don't talk to women. But these two end up talking about life-changing issues--the woman goes back to her neighborhood with renewed life; Jesus can continue his journey refreshed with liquid water and fortified by a meaningful interaction.
I can picture the tree, huge, overshadowing the well and the road, with a built up stone platform at the right height for leaning loads on, and for setting out a picnic lunch on. I can picture the water, with women gathering at dawn and dusk chatting as they wait in line to fill, and hoisting their jugs up with water that must last the day. The complex routine of who gets to go first is well-established and practical, to avoid dispute. If you need to do laundry, you have to wait till the end, no matter what your rank. When a man comes by, he jumps the whole line, but he knows better than to linger. He definitely doesn't come to talk. I can picture the well, abandoned and dry at the middle of the day because there is no one to draw the water.
I tried to take a picture of it once, and it broke the camera. There was too much to fit in a print. (I also had the lens pointing directly into the sun. This was the old days, when that mattered.) Imagine what Jesus would talk with you about!
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