Two years ago, I was leaning against a guard rail in Ohio along Route 30. The sun was warm, and I was back on the road again in what would turn out to be a 935.5-mile walk from Rockford to Washington, D.C.
I was reading the gospel for the day -- and waiting for the Spirit to give me new insights. Hmmm … Be careful what you wish for.
The reading was the woman at the well. Maybe you know this one: Jesus comes to the small town and is tired; he sits down by the well and, as a Samaritan woman comes to draw water, Jesus says, “Will you give me a drink?”
Today this is nothing. Then, Jews avoided Samaria, male Jews did not talk to women in public -- especially women who had been divorced and this woman was divorced five times, unmarried and living with a man.
Jesus violates carefully crafted social norms and, without fanfare or miracles or crowds, asks a question: “Will you give me a drink?” How had I missed that radical act?
This is holy work that I want to take on this Lenten Season. This is the hard, gritty work of living out simple acts done quietly, with simple grace.
That moment wrecked me; my faith has never been the same. Today in the turmoil of national division, this seems a small step -- but it’s a step.
How did I walk to Washington? One step at a time.
How can I change the world? One act at a time.
I’m Lou Ness, and this is my perspective.
