A Rabbi of Israel engages a woman of Samaria (rival, enemy in both history and religious practice, with generations of animosity). There was teasing, even flirting (for that time and place, culture). There was a sharing of God's Kingdom truths and values. There was a gentle call for self examination, and there was an acknowledgement of Jesus as Prophet and then Messiah. There was witnessing and testimony. There was confusion by followers of Jesus over His willingness to talk to a woman in public, and a Samaritan at that, but they dared not ask "Why?". Jesus gave a sermon lesson on reaping and harvesting, as if the fruits of His labor came almost too easy. People came, hungry to encounter the Kingdom. Then He went home to bring the Kingdom there.
I am astounded that people are sectarian about belief in God, especially those who claim to follow Jesus.
Perhaps when the worldly empire values have divided us enough, when the divisions have become so pronounced and the constant conflict has risen to a fevered pitch, then we will welcome Kingdom of God truth and values.
Perhaps when the many who have nothing at the hands of the few with all the power and wealth get fully fed up, not with their position in the system, but with the system itself that has put them and others in that situation in life, then we will welcome Kingdom of God truth and values.
Perhaps when gross injustices perpetrated on some and the corrupt gain of a few that promote them have become so obvious that alternative facts will no longer camouflage reality, then we will welcome Kingdom of God truth and values.
Perhaps when the fruits of corruption, hatred and greed have affected more of the folk who thought they were "in the club", then we will find our compassion in empathy that has been lost, and we will welcome Kingdom of God truth and values.
Perhaps when we have tired of seeing people beaten and killed, starving and dying of treatable diseases and being held down, out and back by others, we will find our full humanity again and welcome Kingdom of God truth and values.
Perhaps when the walls have been built so high and we realize that they keep us held in as much as they keep others held out, we will welcome Kingdom of God truth and values.
Perhaps when we see the plight of those turned away at our arbitrary lines in the sand, and find our heart for those who have not enough or have too much danger and abuse in their lives, we will welcome Kingdom of God truth and values.
Perhaps when we go to the well, separated from others of our own people because of some stigma or difference or life situation we find ourselves in, hoping to fill our lives and be filled, we will encounter someone who reaches across boundaries to have an honest discourse about life, and we will find our commonality, rather than just our differences, because we have welcomed Kingdom of God truth and values.
Perhaps when we leave the well, having been filled with more than just water, and tell others about our connection with God and how it moved us, they will recognize their hunger for something other than what divides us and will find what they have been missing as they welcome Kingdom of God truth and values.
Perhaps we will embrace Agape Love as a better way, and necessarily shed Greed, Power and Self-Promotion as our true values and recipients of our devotion, following the one who reached across the great, cosmic abyss to identify with us, bring us a better way and then sacrifice Himself for us out of that Agape Love.
Perhaps in the repentance we experience (changing our thinking so that our direction changes), we will ourselves reach across boundaries and draw close those who we have pushed away, recognizing our commonalities instead of only our differences, and our need to be connected with one another in order to be connected with God.
Go to the well. Shed your inhibitions, your sectarianism, the history of being divided for the gain of a few, the false notions of superiority and xenophobic fear. Have the encounter with God that reaches across boundaries and connects us back together as children of God who hold much more in common than we have in differences.
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