By John Sanidopoulos
"Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." - John 4:13-14
A few points of reflection entered my mind this morning as I contemplated the theme for the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman. These are in light of the following two news stories:
First, last night I received a phone call from the City of Boston to not drink the tap water because there was a pipe break. 30 towns in the Boston area were told to avoid tap water, or have it boiled if it must be consumed. When I went out to get some bottled water, the place I went to was all sold out. The latest news is that the leak has been identified and repairs are underway.
Second, I read this morning that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is getting bigger and bigger and may be coming up the East Coast - which could possibly mean more water issues here in Boston.
In light of today's theme and Gospel reading for the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, and the whole period of the Pentecostarion in general, these news stories really bring home the Gospel passage above in a very practical way - much like it was for St. Photini when she heard this message from the Lord as she was drawing up water at the well.
Beyond this association, it also helps me reflect a bit on how the situation is around the world where drinking water problems are very common. I've been without water for about 16 hours or so, but I at least have other beverages to drink as I await the repairs - namely some iced tea I just bought at Dunkin Donuts (for which, as I think about it, hopefully they did not use tap water). My point is that we have it pretty well here in America where drinking water usually is not an issue for us.
My last point is that despite my iced tea, I'm actually craving some regular drinking water. The only thing I have to say about this is that I only wish I could crave the living water the Lord Jesus offers as much.
