“Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.” John 4:6
I was once was in the position of the Samaritan woman when I was living at the third orphanage. There was a well that all the children used to bathe every morning. I had to wait because I wasn’t one of them. I waited until all the children were done with their showers before I could use the well. Usually, it was around lunch time that the well was clear of the other children and I could use it.
One day, as I sat waiting for the well to open up, a boy came and sat beside me and befriended me. He shouldn’t have done that. He could have gotten a lot of teasing and mistreatment from other children for befriending me.
His friendship with me was the only one I had at that last orphanage. I cherished it because he shared unmerited grace and love to someone that society around him said to stay away from. In his loving actions to me, he rejuvenated my life and gave me a reason to look forward to the next day. More importantly, while all the other children ridiculed me for looking Western and not Vietnamese, he made me believe that I mattered to at least one person while I was at that orphanage.
It seems to me like some of the greatest gifts that I have received come in the most unexpected times and in the most unexpected ways. The noon hour is often the beginning of the hottest time of day for many societies around the world, yet, it was during that hot hour Christ gave new meaning of life to the downtrodden woman at the well. For me, it was around that time when this child gave me new understanding of life and my place in this world. It is from that simple act of friendship from that boy that helped me accept the call into ministry.
The Gospels share many stories of how Christ reaches out to people at all hours of the day, no matter how uncomfortable and untimely it may seem. The gospels are always inviting us to remember that Christian ministry is often done at the most unexpected of hours and at the most untimely moments of our lives but the results are often life-changing.
Make it a point this Lent to do something unexpected to someone in the name of Christ each day and see what miracles Christ will do through our actions.
