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Improbable
Connections
February
24, 2008
Fr.
George Smiga
John
4:5-42
A
man was flying his private plane and was forced to make a
crash landing out west in the middle of nowhere. Although
he was able to parachute to safety, he found himself without
any means of communication or provisions. His only option
was to walk to civilization. He walked for hours, and after
awhile he was unable to even stand on his feet. So he started
to crawl across the desolate terrain. Then he ran into a necktie
salesman. The salesman said to him, “Good morning! Would you
like to buy one of my beautiful new neckties?” The man said,
“Are you out of your mind? I'm dying here of thirst; I don't
need a necktie!” So the salesman shrugged his shoulders and
went away. The man continued to crawl across the ground knowing
that if he did not find something to drink soon, he would
die. As he crawled to the top of the hill he saw an unbelievable
sight. There down below him was a posh martini club, in the
middle of nowhere, with neon signs and a big parking lot filled
with cars. Quickly he crawled up to the doorman and said,
“Please, I'm dying of thirst. I need something to drink” “Sorry,
sir,” the doorman said, “gentlemen are not admitted without
a necktie.”
Now
who would have imagined that survival depended on a necktie?
But such an improbable connection was the experience of the
Samaritan woman in today's gospel. As she approached the well
to draw water, she saw a man sitting there. She recognized
that he was a Jew. There was no love lost between Jews and
Samaritans. So she probably said to herself, “The last thing
I need in the middle of a busy day is to deal with one of
those people.” As the woman approached the man there
was little expectation that the encounter would be l any other
than a nuisance. Little did she think that this meeting at
the well would change her life. But it did. As they talked
together about water and worship, she came to see that this
Jew was the Messiah, the one she had been waiting for her
whole life long. What began as an unpromising encounter, turned
out not only to be a blessing, but indeed the way to her salvation.
God
can be present in any person and in any circumstance. Even
in those circumstances which at first seem quite unpromising.
It is the point of the story of the Samaritan woman to assert
that truth. Therefore the story asks us: How often do we miss
the presence of God because we presume that God cannot be
present in this person or in this situation? How often do
we rush by people and opportunities because we are convinced
that we have something to do which is much more important?
How often do we brush people aside because we have already
prejudged that they have nothing to offer us? How often do
we push forward toward our goal or agenda and in the process
leave Christ behind?
The
story of the Samaritan woman does not guarantee us that we
will find Christ in every place. But it tells us that we will
find Christ more often, if we look for Christ in every place,
if we live our lives with expectation that we about to meet
the Lord. If we live with that expectation, it changes the
way we approach every situation. We begin to act less out
of duty or responsibility and more out of the anticipation
of being blessed. Parents begin to help their children with
homework, not simply because that is a parent's responsibility,
but because they believe that in such an encounter Christ
could teach them something, Christ could touch their hearts.
Co-workers begin to listen and be attentive to another not
simply to help another but out of the belief that in such
an encounter Christ could help them, Christ could show them
something about themselves. We begin to address a problem
in our family or a misunderstanding in our marriage, not simply
because that problem needs to be addressed, but also because
we expect that in such an encounter Christ could bless us—Christ
could give us reason to be thankful.
Christians
do not dismiss any person or opportunity, because they know
that Christ can be present anywhere. As preposterous as it
might seem to have survival depend on a necktie, or salvation
depend on speaking to an enemy at a well, we believe that
such connections are possible. We believe that in the course
of an ordinary day, God is always capable of touching our
hearts. We believe that in the most unpromising situations,
we can encounter the Savior of the World.
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