[A devotional reflection originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during May 2024]
Our imaginations and the thought processes that follow are influenced by a wide range of stimuli, some benign, some not so. What we see or hear, even what we feel or smell, contributes to the impressions that we form and our subsequent response. This week’s reflection was inspired by two radically different videos that I saw during last week.
The first one[1] described a typical day in the life of Ahmad, a Bedouin Arab living in Wadi Rhum, a desert area in the south of what is now Jordan. His regular routine includes going to the well to collect water for his family and flocks, in a modern counterpart to an activity that goes back to Old Testament times.
Ahmad has a truck with a water tank; he also delivers water to his neighbours who do not have the same ability to collect water for themselves. Could it be that the woman whom Jesus met at the well near Sychar was doing the same for one of her neighbours? (Admittedly it is not so easy to explain the five husbands!) Ahmad’s truck has allowed him to move on from his former nomadic lifestyle, settling into a peaceful community far removed from the strife that we often associate with the Near East. The overall impression from the video was one of contentment.
The second video[2] was a reaction to a survey that showed that 43% of Americans who identified themselves as Evangelicals did not believe that Jesus is God. Despite the caveat that, in the US, ‘evangelical’ is often a socio-political descriptor rather than a statement of personal beliefs, this finding came as a surprise to many of those who commented on the video.
Of course, as is the case with all such surveys, it is necessary to look carefully at how the questions are phrased. Is the question skewed in some way? Is it designed to achieve one answer more than another? Much of the discussion focussed on vocabulary, with correspondents arguing about different interpretations of the terminology. The overall impression from the video was one of confusion.
Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.
Genesis 11 v7 [NIVUK]
It is said that you never get a second chance to create a first impression. What impression do people get when they meet you? Is it one that you are happy about? Does it change as people get to know you better?
It is ironic that Ahmad,a man whose only reference to a higher power was a casual acknowledgement of divine will, should find contentment whereas so many who claim a personal relationship with God remain confused.
Do you lean towards contentment or confusion? As usual, the apostle Paul had something to say on the subject:
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
1 Timothy 6 v6-8 [NIVUK]
References:
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sll1U1C3OCc
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLfyK63rU8Q
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Last week’s reflection: Did We Get It Wrong, Again?
Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
Good evening Steve
I have just read your reflection for today and my first thought
was that initial impressions bring about judgement. I know I fall into this when I meet a
person for the first time. Very much influenced by the surroundings and the context in which the meeting occurs. I believe we have to get to know a person before we overcome that first impression and judgement.
Hi Steve,
It is possible that the woman at the well was collecting water for herself and neighbours but we not told. I am a little surprised that you find it difficult to explain her five husbands. Perhaps one or more died and one or more divorced her. Divorce was possible at that time. She was not married to the man in her life at the time Jesus met her (the sixth man) People do sometimes lead complicated lives and clearly always have done.
Keep up the good work– giving us thought provoking reflections and give serious thought to publishing a selection of them.
That was a reference to the reputation that 2,000 years of church history have given her. You might like “The Samaritan Woman Reconsidered” by Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg; he paints her in a rather more benign light.