Drinking at the Well of Eternal Life
Jesus said to her [the Samaritan woman], ‘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, vv13-14)
The Lent Quiet Day at the Cherwell Centre on Saturday 14th March will offer time for reflection and meditation as we embark on our Lenten pilgrimage. We will share some time of worship and prayer, and will also explore scripture through Ignatian contemplation, allowing us to engage imaginatively with God’s word. This might be through drawing or by writing poetry or prose in response to what we read or hear.
I recently came across this poem by St John Paul II (translated into English)
Looking into the well at Sichar
Look now at the silver scales in the water where the depth trembles like the retina of an eye recording an image
With the broad leaves’ reflection touching your face water washes tiredness round your eyes.
Still far from the spring.
Tired eyes are the sign that the night’s dark waters flow through words into prayer.
(Consider how arid, how arid our souls.)
The light from the well pulsates with tears:
a gust of dreams, passers-by think, brought them down.
The well sparkles with leaves that leap to your eyes.
Reflected green glints round your face in the shimmering depth.
How far to the spring?
Multitudes tremble in you, transfixed by the light of your words as eyes by the brightness of water.
You know them in weariness.
How far to the spring?
Multitudes tremble in you, transfixed by the light of your words as eyes by the brightness of water.
You know them in weariness.
You know them in light.
You can read the whole newsletter here.