HELLO!

As promised in yesterday’s blog here is the obituary for our friend Eileen Eisener. https://personalcarecremations.ca/memorial/v-eileen-eisener/ There is space for you to offer a written Condolence for the family. Please keep them in your prayers. Today the Sams Room was full of friends to celebrate the life of Harvey Foston. Please keep them in your prayers. On Monday we celebrate the life of Gordon Joycey. Please keep his family in your prayers. These families deeply appreciate your care.

John 4 contains one of the most familiar Bible stories in the Christian imagination, the woman at the well. This Sunday, March 8^th, this sacred conversation between Jesus and this woman, is our theme. Jesus suggests conversation is essential for faith. Observe how religious dialogue happens today — “I’m right. You’re wrong.” We are living in a time when conversation needs to be cultivated and valued. Longed for and lived. Without real conversation, we lack intimacy and understanding, connection and empathy. Without real conversation, we risk detachment and distance. No wonder Jesus engages in and insists on conversation when it comes to believing, since believing in John’s Gospel is synonymous with relationship. The church can be the place that shows society what theological conversation can sound like. The church can be the place that demonstrates how dialogue about faith might result in religious respect and tolerance. What does faithful conversation look like?

First, note the conversation begins with mutual vulnerability. Jesus is thirsty and the Samaritan woman needs the water that only Jesus can provide. This is where truthful conversations must start — from a place of reciprocal vulnerability, from a space that recognizes that each party risks being known and being seen. I suspect that very few conversations begin with the expectation of vulnerability, yet theological conversations have to start there because this is a fundamental characteristic of God.

Second, questions are critical to conversation. Not questions that have already decided on the right answers. No, questions that communicate curiosity, an interest in the other, a longing for information and understanding. The woman at the well is full of questions, thoughtful questions, questions that matter and lead Jesus to reveal to her who he really is. Jesus affirms questions, even invites them. God wants us to ask questions because it is questions that strengthen relationship.

Third, conversations for the sake of genuine interest in the other take time. There are moments of misunderstanding. The Samaritan woman is confused by Jesus’ offer, but she does not let that halt the conversation.

Fourth, when it comes to having a conversation with Jesus or about Jesus, expect to be surprised. Expect God to reveal something about God’s self that you have never seen before. The unnamed woman at the well is the first one to whom Jesus reveals his true identity — not to the leaders or to the disciples, but to her, a religious, social, outsider.

The final characteristic of theological conversation is to anticipate being changed in the process. The woman at the well goes from dismissed to disciple. As theologian Barbara Brown Taylor points out, Jesus’s dialogue with the woman at the well is his longest recorded conversation in the New Testament. Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman longer than he talks to his twelve disciples, or to his accusers, or even to his own family.

I love she says, “Come and see,” recognizing Jesus can’t be reduced to a formula. I love that she shares her experience of Jesus even though her faith is still young, still forming. Join in the conversation. Peace, Kevin