Chapter 10: A family-Act One, Scene Two

We've left our wayward husband to look into the scene he described:  Jacob’s Well, just outside the town.  It the afternoon of that same day.  A group of women are talking at the well, filling urns with water.  They are gossipy, lighthearted and confident.  A man enters unseen and sits nearby.  He carries himself with the weariness of a constant traveler; a man a long way from home.  He sits on a rock and listens to their conversation.  So will we.

Esther Deborah, you have the patience of Job.  I don't know how you put up with it.

Rachel She has to.  We all do.  But we have our ways to get back what's ours. 

They all laugh

.

Deborah – But you haven’t heard the latest.

Esther – Good news, I hope.

Rachel – Tell us, sister.  Don’t leave us waiting.

Deborah – He came home this morning.

Rachel –  He just walked right in?

Deborah – Like nothing had ever happened...

Esther – You're not serious.

Deborah – ... and started washing his hands and face.

Esther – That's not all he should be washing.  I mean.... he should be washing Deborah’s feet

Rachel – Oh, of course. 

Rachel winks and the rest of the women grin.

Deborah – Then he kisses the children and says, "I'm off to work.  I'll be home for dinner." Then he takes my hand and gives me those eyes.  "We'll talk later," he says.

Esther – So you'll take him back?

Deborah –Of course.  He's a good provider.  And like you said:  we have our ways.

Rachel – Make him grovel, Deborah!

Esther – Like the dog he is.

Deborah – Yes... just like a dog.

Esther – But what about that woman?

Deborah – What about her?  Have you seen her lately?  She's not what she was when she took my husband, just like she wasn't what she claimed when she came to Sychar.  She'll not be stealing many more husbands here.  In fact, I don't expect the town will allow her to stay much longer.  

All – That’s right!

The traveler watches as they gather their 

jugs and leave.  Mary enters shortly after carrying her urn.  

She looks around to see if she's alone and then begins filling the urn.  

The traveler observes her quietly for a moment,  and smiles as 

though recognizing a long-lost relative.  He calls out to her.

Traveler – May I have a drink?

Mary –  Oh!  I didn't see you there.  Wait.... You’re a Jew, aren’t you?  I am a Samaritan.  You are not supposed to be talking with me.  How can you ask me for a drink? 

Traveler – If you knew who I was and what I can offer you, you would have asked me and I would have given you living water.

Mary – I don’t understand.  You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water?   (Proudly) Just who do you think you are, anyway.  Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?

The traveler comes over to the well and 

looks down into its depths.  He shrugs, unimpressed.

Traveler – Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks my water will never thirst again.  If fact, my water will become in him a spring of water overflowing with eternal life.

Real prophets are in short supply in Palestine, 

but Mary knew they are capable of great miracles.

Mary – (mumbling to herself) If I can win his favor, he might be able to get God to give me my own well.  I would never have to come here again.  I could open my own inn.  I could leave this town.  (angrily) I wouldn't need anybody ... not even a husband!

Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.

Traveler – First, go get your husband and come back.

Mary – I ... I have no husband.

Traveler –Yes, I know.  The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband.  It's quite true, isn't it.

Mary has often been unclothed in front of a man, 

but she has never felt naked as she did now. 

She stammers and tries to change the subject.

Mary – Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.  

Searching for lost piety, she grasps for a fig leaf.

Mary – Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem...

Traveler – I am too weary to continue this dance.  Listen to me.  Soon you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans really don't know what you worship, but we do, for salvation comes from the Jews.  But today true worshipers are worshipping the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. 

She believes she is safe now, hidden behind a 

false robe of religion.  It is time to close 

this conversation and move on.  There will be be no 

miraculous provision this time.  Or so she thinks.

Mary -- I know that Messiah is coming.  When he comes, he will explain everything to us.

Traveler– The Messiah is talking to you now. 

When confronted by real power, it often takes a moment 

to come to full acceptance.  It takes Mary a full five seconds.  

She gasps and stares, open-mouthed, 

not realizing that the Traveler's friends are approaching.  

They are surprised to find him talking with this 

woman and begin to question him about her.  
Seeing an opportunity to escape this uncomfortable 

moment, she flees, leaving the very symbol of her 

shame and imprisonment in Sychar: her water jar.  

She runs for the marketplace

Legislating morality

Sorry it's been a while since I last wrote, but January and February were extremely busy. finally got a couple of days off to think about things other than work and I have a notebook full of ideas, but today I wanted to take up the issue of legislating morality.

I don't believe it can be done, but there are many who think otherwise and point to laws against murder as proof. But my point is that while you can pass laws against or for anything, it doesn't change the moral climate of a society. Murder is still a prevalent crime throughout our society in spite of laws and punishments against it. The US founding fathers put the restrictions on government interference in religion for a reason and this is one of them.

(Note I did not say the separation of church and state, which is a misunderstood concept. The premise was not to keep the influence of religion out of government, but to limit government endorsement control of religion. Interpretation in the past 100 years has reversed the intent of the concept.)

A good example of what I am talking about is the attitude regarding abortion in the US. Both sides of this highly polarized issue are pushing for government intervention in what is ultimately a moral decision. When life begins is not the issue, but when life attains a right to life is. And that decision is based on one's theology, not politics. Therefore the decision rests in the individual. There are any number of laws and legislation that are meant to control access and availability of abortion but none of them have had any affect on how many abortions are performed in the US.

Some might point to the Roe v. Wade decision as the legalization of abortion, but that isn't the case. What happened in that decision was the government actually started taking notice. Statistics on abortion were not really reliable until 1970 because many abortion were done in private and reporting was not required, and they continued to climbe after Roe- v Wade in 1973. After 1979, however the the number of abortions flattened out and started a steading decline beginning in 1990. After some thorough checking, there really wasn't any major change in US legislation against abortion in 1990 and beyond, nor were there any major legal precedent changes. So what was it that caused abortion to flatten out and then decline?

A little more checking and I found that in 1974 a movement promoted by the evangelical community, Crisis Pregnancy Centers, became a real force by the early 1980s and went into ascension in 1990 as it attained the same government support levels as Planned Parenthood. The centers have changed names a couple of times since then but the work is still pretty much the same: offer an alternative to Planned Parenthood's abortion bias. Some people on the pro-choice side claim the CPC dogma is deceptive, but pro-lifers say the same about Planned Parenthood, so I think the rhetoric balances out.

Here's my point: The morality of abortion was not legislated. The state just said, leave us out of it. It's up to people to make moral choices like this and the church is better equipped for that job. Abortion and teen pregnancy are steadily declining all over the country not because of legislation, but because people of faith decided to start doing their job and provide a second moral option. What's more, they did it in a loving, non-judgmental manner. (you might have had a different experience with the CPC people, but the one's I know provided information on abortion services to anyone who really wanted them and did it without making the client feel guilty.)

If there are issues of morality that you are concerned about, don't look to the government to fix it. That job belongs to the church and it's about time we started doing our job. We already know it works.

A life of Grace is not easy

Some people think grace is the easy way out. They think it means holding no one accountable; that it's a free ride. They couldn't be more wrong. Walking a life of grace is the hardest thing of all.

Living under law means everything is clear, black and white. Those people are right and those over there are wrong. Law puts clear boundaries between the people who think like you and the people who don't. Grace blurs the lines. It takes away the easy answers and leaves you wholly dependent on someone else; a much higher authority. It means finding a path to acceptance without necessarily approving.

I started writing this while on business in Scotland and it's taken me a while to get my thoughts clear.

There was a significant moral debate going on in the United Kingdom regarding assisted suicide. Two UK citizens have traveled to Switzerland where a medical clinic provides the means for people to end their lives, regardless if their condition is immediately terminal. One was a young man in his 20s that was paralyzed from the neck down in a rugby training exercise. The second was a man in his 50s with a neurological condition that affects his ability to breath.

As can be expected, right-to-life groups and, specifically, Christians in the UK are protesting the decisions and are pressuring the government to take action. (Hey, it's not just America!) The lines are pretty well drawn in this discussion, just as they are in the case of abortion, gay lifestyles, global warming, etc. People are either for or against to varying degrees. But grace makes that determination much more difficult for the individual. Here's what I mean.

I am morally opposed to suicide, assisted or otherwise. My immediate reaction to the concept is that taking your life is selfish and cowardly. I'm probably not alone. There is a moral question on taking a human life, even if it is your own. But that is not an absolute position. We've all heard the stories of soldiers falling on hand grenades to save their comrades. The soldier that does that is killing himself. Nothing selfish or cowardly about that, is there? That's selfless and brave. So a decision to end your life is not always right or wrong

The young rugby player said he did not want to live "a second-class life." The older man said he did not want to be a burden on his family. Now both of those reasons are questionable.

Was the young man saying people in wheelchairs are second class people? That's insensitive and an insult to handicapped people, isn't it? What's probably more accurate is that he defined his life by his ability to play sports and now he lacked definition. Or is he correct when he sees the way handicapped people live and was just being realistic.

The older man apparently thinks his family is incapable of making a sacrifice for his life, or he doesn't think he is worth the trouble. Shouldn't he check with his family to see if they feel he's a burden? Of course, they aren't going to say it, but he should check. Or maybe he knows the financial and emotional limits of his family and he's absolutely selfless in the decision.

How can we know the real reason for their decisions? Well, we have to be omniscient. I'm not. Are you? In fact, I only know one person who is. And he usually doesn't let me in on that kind of information.

If you live a life directed by law, you don't have to ask those questions. The whole thing is black and white; right and wrong. In a life of grace, you can't make that decision. But you can ask a question and you can take an action.

When I read the articles about both men, I thought first how said life can be for some people. The young man was vibrant and committed to a sport that he loved and that was taken from him before he could completely explore his passion. The older man was a scientist and his curiosity curtailed by an inability to breathe unassisted. I felt for them. I also grieved that they no longer saw life, in any form, worth living. And then I asked, "Are the ready for what comes next?"

I didn't have an answer for that, anymore than I had a clear understanding of their motives. But I did have something I could be sure of.

I asked God to send someone to both of these men before they committed suicide to tell them that they were loved, that they were forgiven, and that, if they wanted, they could spend eternity with Him.

In a life of grace, that may be all we can do and be assured that He will do whatever it takes to make that happen. In some cases, He might even send me. Knowing that call could come anytime for me makes my life worth living everyday. And I don't even have to get morally outraged. What a time and energy saver that is.