Another Look at the Samaritan Woman at the well
When we arrive at the door of this gospel and enter in we have the choice of identifying with Jesus and his disciples or with the Samaritan Woman. It is, for me today, an act of arrogance to presume I am with the one with the answers to the questions the Samaritan Woman asked of Jesus. This gospel is like every other. We need to ask the question of who we are on a daily basis. The answer yesterday may not be the answer for today or tomorrow. The challenge is to humbly ask the question and then to humbly search the answer.
Today the person I am in this gospel is the Samaritan woman. Let me tell you why.
In the life of every human there are days when we are up and days when we are down. Yesterday was not an up day. I was feeling the pressure of being the leader of large team and feeling disheartened because of the need to engage a member of the team in a very serious and very serious difficult discussion about performance. The person was a long time peer who ended up being a subordinate and the transition of our relationship has had some bumps and twists.
The issue of dealing with a team member was just one thing on a long list of things I felt were weighing down. It was as if I had found myself sailing into the open fist of gale and as the fingers of the storm closed in around me I felt deep discouragement close in around me.
I am usually able to mask down days by using the tools I have learned over the years. Finding reasons for gratitude, doing a random act of kindness, seeking the quiet world of mediation all usually help me get through the day without lashing out or withdrawing. Yesterday my evil twin was not having any part of it.
Finally late in the morning Lynn, one of my fellow managers, became concerned by the quiet in my office since my office tends to be a place of some noisy laughter, joking and conversation. I was able to share some of my feelings with her and, being a fellow Catholic familiar with my faith practices, she looked me in the eye and gave me some very sage advice.
“You need to go to Mass at noon. Just go. The Mass always changes you,” she said. I started to protest about my schedule being full but she just held up her index finger, pointed it at me and said, “Just go.” I willing to be you could all predict what happened next. I went to Mass.
I would like to say the gospel of the Mass was about the Samaritan woman but it wasn’t. The Gospel was from John 16 in which Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to them to reveal more to them when they could bear to hear.
What was revealed to me was that today I was Samaritan woman who, absorbed in a dreary life of chaos and uncertainty, came to the well to draw water to drink but instead was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit. Her life was changed and she went down a new path which would lead her to being the person she was always intended to be.
In the Mass and through the Eucharist, this Samaritan woman, me, encountered Christ and was reminded of the power of the waters of baptism which send us forward into the waters of life which flow from God.
The fist which had been closing in around me opened again and while the seas I sailed in were still stormy, I could once again see the destination and understood what God wanted from me. That made all the difference.
That was today. If tomorrow I am called upon to answer the question again how would I respond? All I can do is to pray for the strength to answer if tested.
Today the person I am in this gospel is the Samaritan woman. Let me tell you why.
In the life of every human there are days when we are up and days when we are down. Yesterday was not an up day. I was feeling the pressure of being the leader of large team and feeling disheartened because of the need to engage a member of the team in a very serious and very serious difficult discussion about performance. The person was a long time peer who ended up being a subordinate and the transition of our relationship has had some bumps and twists.
The issue of dealing with a team member was just one thing on a long list of things I felt were weighing down. It was as if I had found myself sailing into the open fist of gale and as the fingers of the storm closed in around me I felt deep discouragement close in around me.
I am usually able to mask down days by using the tools I have learned over the years. Finding reasons for gratitude, doing a random act of kindness, seeking the quiet world of mediation all usually help me get through the day without lashing out or withdrawing. Yesterday my evil twin was not having any part of it.
Finally late in the morning Lynn, one of my fellow managers, became concerned by the quiet in my office since my office tends to be a place of some noisy laughter, joking and conversation. I was able to share some of my feelings with her and, being a fellow Catholic familiar with my faith practices, she looked me in the eye and gave me some very sage advice.
“You need to go to Mass at noon. Just go. The Mass always changes you,” she said. I started to protest about my schedule being full but she just held up her index finger, pointed it at me and said, “Just go.” I willing to be you could all predict what happened next. I went to Mass.
I would like to say the gospel of the Mass was about the Samaritan woman but it wasn’t. The Gospel was from John 16 in which Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to them to reveal more to them when they could bear to hear.
What was revealed to me was that today I was Samaritan woman who, absorbed in a dreary life of chaos and uncertainty, came to the well to draw water to drink but instead was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit. Her life was changed and she went down a new path which would lead her to being the person she was always intended to be.
In the Mass and through the Eucharist, this Samaritan woman, me, encountered Christ and was reminded of the power of the waters of baptism which send us forward into the waters of life which flow from God.
The fist which had been closing in around me opened again and while the seas I sailed in were still stormy, I could once again see the destination and understood what God wanted from me. That made all the difference.
That was today. If tomorrow I am called upon to answer the question again how would I respond? All I can do is to pray for the strength to answer if tested.
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