Everything I ever did

A woman comes to draw water at noon, the one hour when no one else will be at the well.

Jews did not speak with Samaritans, and men did not speak with unknown women at wells. Jesus, tired from the road, asks her for a drink. The talk moves from water to thirst, and then to the five husbands she has had and the man she now lives with.

He says it plainly and without contempt. She does not run. Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.

She leaves her jar and goes into the town she has been avoiding, telling people to come and see a man who told her everything she ever did. Being fully known, and not rejected, is the thing she cannot keep to herself.

The Church reads this scene to those preparing for Baptism, because this is what living water does. Tell one trustworthy person the thing you assumed would end the friendship if it were known.

Lord Jesus, You know everything I ever did, and You are still asking me for a drink. Give me the water that does not run out, and the courage to leave my jar behind. Amen.