God, our God, you have called us to be a people on the move; travelling light, dying to live,

ready to lose ourselves for the sake of the world.

You have called us to be a people with a purpose; travelling without a map, travelling to where we are led,

sustained by your Spirit, committed to the gospel for the hope of the world.

Move us on our journey from where we are to where you want us to go.

Open our eyes on the way to the people of different cultures, continents and countries,

Who can bring colour to our lives.

Lead us on our journey from who we are to who you want us to be;

so that patience is built into us, kindness is assumed in us,

gentleness is part of us, compassion flows from us,

truth is second nature to us, and the commitment of love is part of us.

Let us go gladly on the journey toward Easter!

The story of the woman at the well is many sided, but what is most intriguing is the part about water soothing our thirst. In the Gospel Jesus asks the woman to dray some delicious well-water for him to drink. She hesitates. She is a Samaritan. Then maybe she sees his need, and she moves into action.

Thirst is ever present on this planet. Sometimes, dramatically so. I remember bicycling with a friend out in the mountainous countryside on a very hot day. We had not counted on one particular hill that would continue to rise up before us, a very long remitting one. We worked and worked and worked and at last achieved what we thought must be the top. Hurray! The heat and humidity had sucked the moisture out of us, so we were parched. Remarkably parched. After resting in the shade of one lone tree by the side of the road we mounted our bikes again figuring the end was around the next corner. We would finally be able to find a drink of water.

Around the next corner however was the start of yet another mass of hills going upward again. How could we put ourselves through still another Olympic ordeal and mount this new set of twisting hills in front of us. There must be another way to get some water. Finally, a car drove past and the thought of catching a ride was a passing thought but now we were on a mission to finish what we had started.

When we finally reached the top and found a water tap to get a drink, nothing else in the world could have tasted so delicious and so satisfying. We were craving what our bodies ached for. It seems that we have a thirst for something even more profound than just a welcome drenching don’t we. The Apostle Paul says we thirst for “the love poured forth from God in Jesus through the Spirit.” Love. This is a primordial need very like the need for water; it is “a God-sized hole” within us, a yearning for the greatest love there is. Jesus says he will put a flowing fountain of such water right inside the Samaritan woman. It will quench her thirst forever. We use lesser things to try and satisfy our needs. Yet, even at their best they leave us humming, “Is that all there is?” Fortunately, we are built in such a way that our small selves have been fitted with a soul that opens wide to love and especially to the greatest love of all, God.

So, we must bicycle our way to the top of the hill, and maybe there we will meet Jesus to give us “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

Three weeks into Lent already. Each day through this journey I have had a Lenten reflection to read from two different books but it wasn't until I came across something similar to what I have posted before, that I thought - better late than never to share some reflections with you. 

In the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market. Jn 2:13

He was certainly not a politician and did not mince his words. He acted in accordance with his higher feelings and paid the price of alienating those who held power.

 We admire this in people of integrity who make us aware of how many compromises we make in our own actions. We can rationally justify any action at some level. ‘Common sense’ has justified many mistakes. The question that won’t go away, however, is at what level of reality and integrity do we choose to live.

Being unpopular is not necessarily a sign that you are acting justly. But to do the right thing consistently will inevitably lead you into a deeper solitude where you are open to criticism, vulnerable to your enemies and exposed to your own inner demons. Easier to go with the crowd and avoid your own depth. In solitude you will have fewer co-travellers but those with whom you make the pilgrimage will be in good faith with you.

Half way through Lent now is a good moment to evaluate how we are using this season of simplification and reduction. Has it lost its edge already? Have we forgotten why we undertook the practices we chose to do?

Measuring time has the advantage of making us aware of how imperceptibly, unconsciously it can slip through our fingers. Living in the full appreciation of the present moment is hard to sustain but it tends to help us to do the right thing in the right way at the right time. Right meaning what serves to make us and those we travel with more real, more free and more loving.