Exhausted from global warming in oppressed Palestine, Jesus chilled at Jacob’s Well in the realm of “the other” called Samaria. Jesus’ cohort left him to buy organic at the nearest fair-trade kiosk. A Samaritan woman, “the other,” approached the community’s gathering space, carrying a jar, the symbol of her status in a harsh, patriarchal culture.
Jesus said to her, “Water is good. Water is to be shared. Water is life. May we share in a drink of water together?” He lit two candles, too, symbolizing the two flames of life at the well. The woman replied, “I am in the oppressed class–a Samaritan–and you are in the religiously oppressive class– the Jew. I am victim; you are power. How is it that you encounter me in such a counterintuitive egalitarian way in a world of power-assigned values?”
Read Full Article »