THE WOMAN AT THE WELL

We all have a story to tell.
Many of us are like the woman
who stood at the well and fell.

Fell into fear
that she was not nearly
good enough for the man to speak to her.

Feeling so unworthy
so full of worldly.
She spent years of dedication
chasing after creation,
just trying to fit in
but she could never win.
Nothing she did
was ever good enough
for the men she let in
to her life.
She tried over and over again,
Five times in a row
just trying to be a good wife.
She endured so much strife.
Her heart
cut away by the knife
of this life.
Looking for peace,
she would constantly retreat
to the well.
In the mid-day sun
she would take a little run
to the well.
She would dream a little dream
that the Samaritan life
would go back to the beginning
of time.
To the days when Jacob was alive
and well.
From Abraham’s seed,
Jacob would succeed
in bringing victory
to all those in need.
From the son of one,
men would come
Blessed and redeemed
as far as the eye could see
descendants as numerous
as the stars in the sky.
Yes this woman at the well,
would fall under a spell
every time she disappeared
in her mind.
If only there was one
who could raise a magic wand,
and make it all go back
to that time.
She thought,
"If only I could belong
to a man who would love me
well."

“Woman” she heard.
Her vision was blurred.
She was woken from sleep
when he asked for a drink.
Stunned by his voice
her reactionary choice
was to say
“Are you talking to me?”
She could barely conceive
“Is this Jewish man talking to a Samaritan woman like me?”

Jesus himself
sat at the shelf
of the well.

Just wait and see,
you will come to trust and believe
that the water that you seek
is here for the meek.

The water Jacob had sprung
watered the land and gave life.

But man had thwarted the plan
by mingling with the dead.

Death and debris had
polluted the streams
of Israel.

Division had come
and Judah had won
the well.

But not the water
from your streams
that run underneath
this land.


Between famine and sword
the Lord placed his command
to reclaim the man that he loves.  

My father says
“I have come
to reconcile myself
to the women in the wilderness
who was lost.”

Everyone who drinks of this well
will be thirsty again,
for its water fills only
that which has an end.

But whoever drinks of me
will quench all of their needs,
for the water I give
comes from the eternal spring
of life.

The man spoke to her heart
with his promise to never depart.
Unfailing love was something she did not know.
Conditions were always part of the show.

She knew that she knew
that he spoke the truth.
He was the Messiah
and his words were true.


Her heart skipped a beat
and she jumped to her feet,
I have to tell my folk
that the Messiah has come to give hope!

We all have a story to tell.
Many of us are like the woman
at the well.

We start out broken and ashamed,
accused and blamed,
confused by this world,
and spiritually maimed.

It’s crazy! Is it not?
The elite asking the incomplete
for a drink?
Who would even think
that was a possibility.

So when Jesus comes and asks
“Do you believe in me?”
Will you respond by asking
“Are you talking to me?”

As pathetic as it seems
this is reactionary
for the heart of someone
who has been steeped
in deep sleep.

Full of protective walls
and moats of insecurities,
It’s impossible to conceive
that someone so worthy
would be talking to someone like me.

I had to look again
to see that he’s not a Pharisee,
out to condemn and wants to use
their abusive power over me.

Instead he’s just a man
who is just like me
full of emotional pain and
cognitive quandaries.

But that's not completely true,
for he’s more than a man.
He is the Son of God
who came to bleed for me.

Do I see clearly?
Is he a vision that I can believe?
Someone pinch me.
Am I still asleep?

He put salve on my eyes,
and I became alive.
This God of mine
speaks so accurately.
He is not like the others
who speak like lunatics full of lies.

I can clearly see the man
who stands in front of me.
He does not go,
even though he knows
everything about me.

I've come to know
Jesus is a friend,
who intercedes
time and time again.

He came to redeem.
To set me free.
He is the Messiah in whom I believe.

It’s almost impossible to think
that he has such great love for me.
A Samaritan woman
who was shaken from a dream.
He called my name,
and said come with me.
Now I listen attentively
​to everything he speaks.