December 22, 2003

Mary by the well

Long years ago when I wrote weekly (and turgid) profundities for the parish “newsletter” (I hate that word) and thought they were hot stuff, I’d get substantial comments (pro and con) from anywhere but the parishioners who seemed simply to ignore them. Unless… when I included typos (deliberate and accidental), then the callers-to-my-attention would warm up. It was comforting to know there were readers out there.

In my recent paean to Mary (19xii03), I set her in a scene by a well, drawing water, imagining this to be an appropriate place for Gabriel’s shock wave. Thanks be to God, some folk read the piece, and I’m grateful.

Here’s what they wrote:

One, a man: “My bible says nothing about a well or hauling water. Perhaps you are confusing Mary with the Syrio-Phoneician (I know I didn’t spell that right!) woman.”

Two, a woman: “This points up the problems of literal adoption (sic?) of the bible. I’ll just bet that Mary didn’t sit around on her duff waiting for an angel to happen by and change her life. All the people of the bible had a life beyond the words we know which were arguably the salient points of that life. What’s wrong with supposing Mary hauled water as part of her daily chores? The point being her humbleness, her ordinariness.”

Three, a woman: “It’s poetic license — makes the story come to life for those of us who listen with more than our ears and see with more than our ears (sic: eyes?). BTW — It was the Samaritan woman by the well and the Syro-Phoenician woman who was uppity with Jesus when he called her a dog.”

Four, a woman: “Thank you for this one and many others — you help put many things into proper perspective. ”

Five, a woman: “Possibly thinking of Rebecca at the well? Fetching water was generally a woman’s job, yet I seem to recall a reference to a male water-carrier in Jerusalem. (Lk 22:10).”

It’s altogether comforting to be reminded that Mary did, indeed, have a “duff.” Thanks.

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