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At Jacob’s well

(John 4:1–30)

By Joanne Otto

From the October 2017 issue of The Christian Science Journal

Here, at this humble water source    a woman of Samaria       encountered a man          from Nazareth Where she saw him    a travel-weary Jew       thirsty, foreign    he saw himself    the blessed bearer       of a gift eternally fulfilling  Where she saw herself    a scorned outcast       mired in a shameful past                                                 He saw her    the beloved heir       of a fathomless wellspring of blessing  And in the end, of course            his view prevailed,       and she set out, rejoicing—          her waterpot abandoned—          to lead even those who’d scorned her             to that wellspring of the Christ —Joanne Otto.