Today’s gospel about the woman at the well and the importance of water reminded me of an interesting experience I had in Israel many years ago.

The Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea are both formed from the same supply of water. It flows down, clear and cool, from Mount Hermon. The Sea of Galilee makes beauty of its water, for the sea has an outlet. It gets to give. It gathers in its riches that it may pour them out again to fertilize the Jordan plain.

The Dead Sea, on the other hand, with the same source of refreshing water, is desolate, for the Dead Sea has no outlet. I had the interesting experience of “swimming” in the Dead Sea. Because of the particular makeup of the water, you can’t sink! Unfortunately, someone near me kicked the water, and I got it in my eye. All the salt made my eye burn, and I had nothing un-salty to clear the water from my eye.

In today’s gospel we have John’s extensive story of the Samaritan woman at the well. Note, first, that she goes to the well all by herself at noon, during the hottest part of the day. All the others would have gone in the cool of the early morning to get their water. Evidently, because of her past, she was being shunned by the people of the town.

During the course of the conversation, Jesus, in effect, holds up a mirror to the woman. He makes clear that he knows her entire story. He cares enough about her to make sure that he, too, is there at the wrong time of day, in the scorching heat.

You might say that, when the woman arrives, she is like the Dead Sea: all the sins of her past, all the pains of her present, are locked up inside her like a swamp with no exit. She probably arrives, thinking that, because of her past, she really doesn’t have much of a future.

As the conversation continues, some amazing things begin to happen. The woman comes to realize that she doesn’t need to be imprisoned by her past. Jesus, even with a detailed knowledge of her past, is patient, gentle and forgiving. He allows her to forgive herself, to reclaim her God-given dignity, and to see an entirely different future. And at the same time that she comes to know who she really is, she comes gradually to know who Jesus is—not only the one that knew even her darkest secrets, but the Messiah who was to bring light, life and salvation to the human race.

So, the swamp flows out of the woman because new water, flowing and life giving, is restoring and healing her soul. And she is so transformed that, rather than hiding in shame from her neighbors, she now brings the good news to them. The life she has is no longer locked up in the past, it flows with gratitude and new possibilities. And it is so strong, so beautiful, it has to be proclaimed, it has to be shared—even with those who had despised and judged her harshly. They were no longer her tormentors; they were neighbors worthy of the same love she had been shown by Jesus—not recrimination or revenge.

What strikes me about this whole story is how powerful and life-changing Jesus’ love can be. He heals the woman who, in turn, helps heal the entire town. There is both a personal and a communal aspect to sin and forgiveness. Each of us, individually, can be clogged like the Dead Sea, imprisoned by a sinful past and present. To have a truly radiant and joyful future, we have to drain the swamp.

The same is true on a larger scale. Society as a whole can lose its way. Things that had never been acceptable before are now the victims of compromise. Moral standards, which helped to make life in community possible, and which trained the young in civic and personal virtue, can be corrupted. So, what’s to be done? We need to do what the woman did when freed from her past. We need the life-giving water to flow through us and out into the world. We may not be able to do big things, impacting an entire nation, but we can make a difference, one life at a time. If we want to be healed, we need to be healers. If we want to experience peace, then we need to be peaceable. If we have encountered the One who knows us completely, and still loves us, that’s incredibly good news that needs to spread. Do you feel healed, forgiven, loved? If so, spread the healing, the forgiveness, and the love! Love can’t be a dead end. It needs to flow.