— A long, long path —
Just like any other day.
You’re going about your business, trying to forget.
Forget the issues, the problems that seem to persist.
You tell yourself you have done everything. You have tried the tactics, you have followed the crowd, but none of it seems to be working.
— The weight of pain —
The burden is heavy, so heavy that sometimes, you need to pause, to take a deep breath before the next step.
How did your life turn out this way?
How did love leave you tired, used and forgotten?
You thought you loved every one of them. You thought they would be ‘the one‘. That they would make you happy
But you are back to the same spot, even now worse than ever before.
— All that glitters ain’t gold–
You chased the glory, you dressed right, holding on to the beauty you thought would bring them in.
You read all the books, did ‘all the things‘. Where did the time go?
They told you, ‘a woman is nothing without a man‘ so you sought the men. The one that will complete you. That would make you something. But none ever seemed to fit.
You have worked tirelessly, looking for that to fill you but nothing works.
It is all nothing and for nothing.
— The words of others —
You hear the other women’s whispers.
You know your life has become fodder for the idle and the gossip.
They question your decisions and your mind.
They wonder how you could have been so foolish. Questions you too have wondered but have sought to forget.
For your sanity lies in not remembering the pain of trying, and failing and trying again.
— The Beaten Path —
It is just like any other day until you see him. A young man leaning right by the well.
You know it’s an odd time for people to be about. After all, that had been your reason for the noontime.
You pause with each tentative step, consider if you should run away or move closer. Heart beating fast, palms sweaty. You hold tightly to the ropes, centred by the familiar.
‘Who is he and what could he be doing here?’
He doesn’t look like one of us.
— Balm to my aching heart —
And then it happens, a life-changing conversation ensues.
His one request breaks down your bounds and leaves you open and vulnerable.
He speaks deep into your heart, to the place where you have locked up so tight afraid of the overload.
He strips you bare, opening each wound, peeling off the weight that had held you down. The weights of religion, of conformity, of self and of sin.
— Water for my thirsty soul —
You say:
‘How could he have known what I needed?’
‘What I didn’t even know I needed?‘
He knew every mess, every secret and shame yet he wanted to give to me.
To quench the hunger and thirst
I gasp, struck by the love I see. Shining through his eyes is compassion, not judgment.
I could see he wanted me well.
He wanted me saved
And he would give me this:
His spirit, his beloved spirit as succour for my soul.
The living water that will forever bubble within me, filling me anew every day of my life.
— He changed it all —
And all he asked was this:
“Will you allow me quench your thirst?”
I screamed “Yes!”
At the top of my lungs, I screamed yes because my heart knew this was the answer.
The answer I had been waiting for. The one thing I had been searching for.
The thing I thought I would find in the arms of men. They were all temporary but in my bones, with the certainty of a woman who has seen life, I know that this is it!
This is all I need. This is all I will ever need.
— The joy to witness —
He has quenched my thirst and has given me a reason to smile again.
The well within my soul is bubbling forth with joy.
I can’t keep this to my self.
I must tell them, the women, the idle ones who have nothing to live for but to bring others down. They need to hear this news, the good news for they too are thirsty.
Their souls are patched.
— A quenched heart —
See what love has done to me’
I have seen him and will never be the same again.
Join me, sisters, let me show you to the One who knows your heart. The One who has seen the silent tears and wishes to soothe your fears.
Get rest for your souls and peace for your mind.
He is the living God, the one who gives water that never runs dry.
Taste and you shall see that indeed this is good.
It will be water for your thirsty souls.
Culled from the story of the woman at the well. John 4
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