Beneath the blazing noonday sun,
The road baked in the heat,
The woman felt as if live coals,
Burned through her sandaled feet.
Moving at a hurried pace,
She walked up to the well,
To fill her jar with water,
Poor jaded city belle.
The place was in Samaria,
The city was Sychar,
Where she encountered Jesus,
A Jew who said to her,
“Give me a drink of water.”She looked askance and said,
“Jews do not ask Samaritans
To share their drink or bread.”
“Come drink the living water,
Flowing out from me.”“You possess no bucket Sir,
And this well is deep.”“This water cannot satisfy,
New thirsts tomorrow brings,
The water of eternal life,
Wells into gushing springs.”
“Sir, let me have this water,
So I won’t thirst again,
Never will I have to face,
Disgrace and guilt and pain.”“Go home and call your husband,
Then come back to me.”“I do not have a spouse,” she said,
“You are right,” said He.
“You have had five husbands,
And the man who lives with you,
Has not wed you in marriage,
So what you’ve said is true.” She changed the subject saying,
"Tell me prophet, why Jews say,
That only in Jerusalem,
Can people go to pray?
We from Samaria,
Have always worshipped here,
This mountain is the place,
That our ancestors held most dear.”
“The hour has come upon us,
When true worship will be seen,
Not on this mountain nor indeed,
In Jerusalem.
You worship what you do not know,
We worship what is true,
For salvation comes to all,
Only from the Jews.”
“I know that the Messiah,
The Christ will brings us peace,
He will heal the broken hearted,
Captives will see release.”“I am He,” said Jesus,
And faith began to stir,
Just then His followers returned,
Tightlipped they glanced at her.
The woman left her water-jar,
There beside the well,
And ran into the city
The people there to tell,
About the Man whom she had met,
Who told her all she' done,
“Come and see,” she urged the men,
“Meet the Anointed One.”
They heard her and responded,
They hurried on their way,
To meet the Lord who long had planned,
To save them on that day.
“You must be hungry Rabbi,
Eat,” the disciples begged.
“I’ve had food to eat that you,
Know nothing of,” He said..
“The field is ripe and ready,
Harvest time is near,
The reaper has received his wage,
Eternal life is here.
The laborers who sow and reap,
Together can rejoice,
In harvesting the merit gained,
Through the saving cross.”
Many from Samaria,
Believed in Him at first,
Because the woman testified,
How He had slaked her thirst.
But once they all met Jesus,
And having heard the Word,
They proclaimed that He was truly,
Savior of the World.
Like the woman at the well,
He knows all you have done,
He nailed your sins upon the cross,
The victory is won.
Myra D’Souza/8th October 2009
