Tag Archives: Cornerstone

day 2777: Six Feet

“He had to go through Samaria on the way.”

I walked to the grocery store on Monday to buy eggs (btw, The eggs were $9.99 a dozen and they old me that they were selling them at cost. A $ sign of the times we are in). On my way there and back people dodged each other as if we were the same charged ends of a magnet, trying to keep six feet of distance between us.  The interesting part to me is that with each shuffle or step away, there was a moment of a glance to each other in that we were sharing a time together that neither wanted to do.  I contrast this to the hustle and bustle of a normal street or hallway when we pass each other without even a glance, or not even raising our eyes from the phone in our hand, sometimes even bumping into each other without even a word of apology or recognition.  When we are all through with this, I hope we don’t lose the appreciation that we all share a space on this earth and that in that sharing is the opportunity to recognize the humanity around and in each of us.

This past Sunday was #onlinechurch for us, as I am sure it was for each of you too. Our Pastor, Terry, taught  on Jesus and the unconventional meeting that Jesus had with the woman at the well.  In that message he spoke of how Jesus didn’t have to go through Samaria to get to Galilee, but that He really did have to do so.  It was described that in the oldest versions of the Bible the verse reads, “He must needs go to Samaria”.  Jesus couldn’t dodge the path in front of Him and He couldn’t not see the woman at the well.  He might not have wanted to do so, but He needed to.  Right now we are being told to “step away” and “social distance”, and for now, we have to do that.  But, we are also being asked now to “go out of our way” to reach out to others who are lonely, down, discouraged, scared and in some cases increasingly distraught.  While we have to stay six feet away physically, it does not mean that we can’t still be in touch with technology or the old-fashioned phone. It might be that today we “must needs go” that direction.

Reference: John 4: 4 (New Living Translation)