In our lesson from the Hebrew scriptures today, the prophet Jeremiah hears God claim the title, “the fountain of living water.” Take time to sit with that image of the Holy One. Consider the picture that comes to mind. It serves as an invitation for an encounter with the Beloved. I envision a lush spring bubbling up from deep within, issuing forth into a rushing stream filling all the dry, sere, desert places in my life, watering the hidden seeds of divine Love, enabling them to burst forth green and growing—to share with each and all.

Your picture will likely be very different. Years ago, I was at a conference where we were called upon to do something similar—to imagine Jesus coming to visit us in a garden and to hear what he said. When folks shared their experiences of magnificent gardens overflowing with brilliant flowers and flowing fountains, I was too disheartened to tell about mine. All I saw was a vegetable garden, and Jesus didn’t show up. Later as I complained to God about my experience in comparison with others, a message came: “Vegetables feed others.” I was stunned at the implications for my life. All that to say that God meets us where we are, as we are, and provides what we need when we need it, as surprising as that may be.

When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well outside Sychar, I suspect it was Jeremiah’s testimony that inspired him when he told her, “. . . those who drink of the water I give will never be thirsty. The water that I give will become a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (Jn.4:14) It behooves us to keep that holy water moving, not try to dam it up in our own personal reservoir where it can become stagnant and useless. The Beloved wants us to become fountains of living water flooding the world around us with Love.