Here’s a monologue
inspired by John 4: 1-42, where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the
well. It was written by Mark Diller
Harder.
Another Woman at the Well
(inspired by John 4:1-42)
The picture was all
wrong. This couldn’t be what I was seeing, could it? First there was ‘that
woman.’ It figures.
She always marched to her own drummer and standards. Unconventional,
awkward, embarrassing.
No one else would go to Jacob’s well at noon, in the middle of the
day. But I guess
the rest of us women have not always been so friendly or hospitable to her.
The town well,
lifeblood of the community, given by our great ancestor Jacob - his very flocks
and people drank
water from there. Water! The source of all life. Without water we perish.
This well is as
sacred to me as any shrine or temple, that’s for sure. There are rules to this
well too. Don’t
draw water in mid-day. Don’t be caught there with men, certainly not talking
with them. And
don’t even think of being there with an outsider, as a Samaritan, especially
not with a Jew –
given our shared, yet antagonist histories – they think they are so much
better! This is our
well! They can keep by-passing our whole territory and our well and our
much needed water
for all I care.
But there I was, at
noon, and watching her draw water. And this man, coming right up to her.
I moved closer to
watch. He didn’t look like anyone we knew. He had the look of a Galilean. It
looked like he was
asking her for a drink. Unbelievable! I moved closer, I caught some words.
Something about
water and living water. She looked confused. He kept right on going.
“Everyone who drinks of this water will
never be thirsty again. The water I give will become in
them a spring of water gushing up to eternal
life.” And they just kept
talking. It was as if they
were close
relatives in the privacy of a family home. Family, husbands, worship, prophecy,
theology for
goodness sake – nothing was out of bounds. It’s as if he knew her whole story –
but could talk
about it without all the judgment – she mattered, she was important.
You should have
seen the look on the faces of the other men when they returned. They must
be some sort of
followers, disciples of this… prophet? The women left her jug, and ran back
to the city. It was
as if she was a new woman. She had changed. For the first time ever,
people listened to
her. She spoke the words ‘Messiah.’ Suddenly people were flocking there
because of her! She
was so compelling! Whatever it is, I want some of that water!
~ written by Mark
Diller Harder, St. Jacobs Mennonite Church, January 2010. Posted in the From Our Churches archive on the
Mennonite Church Canada Resource Centre website. http://resources.mennonitechurch.ca/FileDownload/12319/Another_Woman_at_the_Well.pdf
