Tuesday, March 10
Read: Psalm 81; Genesis 29:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4
Who gets the water?
That was a real and pressing question in the world of the Bible, where water was scarce and survival depended on it. Wells were often covered with a large stone, so heavy that it took multiple shepherds to roll it away. This was an accountability measure put in place so that no one shepherd could take more than their share. The stone protected fair access for the whole community.
In Genesis, Rachel arrives at the well with her flock and has to wait. Only a few of the shepherds have gathered. And then Jacob sees Rachel walking up with her flock.
Instead of waiting for the other shepherds to show up and the system to work the way it always has, Jacob steps forward. He rolls the stone away himself. It’s an impressive feat, even if it does break the rules. But love does that sometimes. Compassion does that. When Jacob sees Rachel, he cannot stand by. He finds a way to make sure she and her flock get water.
That story reminds me of another one.
Earlier this winter, Mrs. Heather—our Children’s Director—and six faithful volunteers took our campers to Blue Lake for winter retreat. One of the central mission themes that weekend was access to clean drinking water, and the lesson stuck. My daughter Hazel came home and said, very matter-of-factly, “Mom, did you know thousands of people die every day because they don’t have clean drinking water?”
The campers learned about a group right here in Alabama that designs a simple filtration device, something that can be added to an ordinary bucket to make unsafe water drinkable. To demonstrate how it works, the kids were sent down to Blue Lake to collect water. To make sure it was good and murky, they added cow manure. Yes, you heard me right, cow manure! Then they filtered the water through the device, and it came out perfectly clear. The yucky water had been purified.
Can you guess what they did next? Every kid at camp got to taste the water. There were squeals of delight over the fact that they were drinking water that once had cow manure in it and that something so simple could make such a difference!
As joyful as that moment was, it doesn’t begin to compare with the joy of children around the world who will have clean drinking water for the first time. And our kids understood that. Mrs. Heather shared that the next day many of them reflected on their own gratitude and then gave generously from their wads of crumpled dollar bills for the mission offering that night.
Our children don’t always know what to care about, or how to help, but they want to help.
Jacob saw Rachel and her flock in need he was compelled to act. In the same way, once our kids saw these children in need, children they could identify with, who are part of the family of God, they were compelled to act.
The question then, and now, is still the same: Who gets the water?
When we see someone waiting at the well, will we stand by and protect the stone—or will we be so moved by love that we step forward, even if it costs us something, to make sure everyone has access to the life God intends?
Prayer:
Generous God, help me on this day to remember your goodness to me and reflect that generous love to my neighbors, my coworkers, my family, and all whom I meet. In Christ’s name, Amen.
The Reverend Gillian Walters ’08 is Senior Minister at Dauphin Way United Methodist Church in Mobile, Alabama and serves on the Huntingdon College Board of Trustees.
