Creative Prayer: The Well

This is the fifth episode of Method's third season: Vision. Today, we'll explore Ignatian contemplation on a passage from Scripture - the Gospel of John, chapter four.

Imaginative prayer, also known as Ignatian Contemplation, is the name given to prayer which helps us enter more fully into the passage of Scripture we are reading, by using our ability to form pictures or inner impressions in our minds.

Transcript

Hello,

And welcome to my new video.

This is the fifth episode of our third season,

Vision.

We've spoken about contemplation before,

And this part may be confusing.

Like many words in the English language,

A word like contemplation can mean different things depending on its context.

Contemplation can mean the inner state of union with the divine,

A type of samadhi,

Or final stage in the process of pragation,

Illumination,

And union,

As per the desert fathers like Evagrius Ponticus.

But there's a different usage for the term contemplation in the Jesuit tradition.

Imaginative prayer,

Also known as Ignatian contemplation,

Is the name given to prayer which helps us enter more fully into the passage of scripture we are reading,

By using our ability to form pictures or inner impressions in our minds.

We live in a rational,

Left-brain world,

Where information and analysis is the highest priority.

But as human beings,

Our soul is still captivated by experience.

Jesus called on people's imagination all the time.

He was constantly telling stories and painting word pictures.

He asked people to imagine the kingdom of God as a mustard seed,

As yeast,

As a treasure hidden in a field,

As a lost coin.

Through imaginative prayer,

We step into a gospel story and imagine ourselves to be there in that scene.

Rather than reading the Bible abstractly,

We enter the story to more deeply experience and encounter Jesus in the scene.

In doing so,

We remain true to the biblical reading,

But more actively experience it.

We might be a disciple in the boat with Jesus,

One of the crowd at the feeding of the 5,

000,

Or the woman at the well asked by Jesus to draw up water for him.

It's important that as you hear the story,

You try and feel what it's like to actually be inside that story.

Listen,

Taste,

Smell,

Feel,

And watch what happens.

What can you see around you?

What are everyone's facial expressions?

What are you feeling?

I'll read through the story once from the text first,

And then we'll enter the story more personally.

This passage is from the Gospel of John,

Chapter 4.

Therefore,

When the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John,

Although Jesus himself was not baptizing what his disciples were,

He left Judea and went away again to Galilee,

And he had to pass through Samaria.

So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar,

Near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph,

And Jacob's well was there.

So Jesus,

Being wearied from his journey,

Was sitting thus by the well.

It was about the sixth hour.

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water.

Jesus said to her,

Give me a drink,

For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

Therefore,

The Samaritan woman said to him,

How is it that you,

Being a Jew,

Ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?

For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said to her,

If you knew the gift of God,

And who it is who says to you,

Give me a drink,

You would have asked him,

And he would have given you living water.

She said to him,

Sir,

You have nothing to draw with,

And the well is deep.

Where then do you get that living water?

You are not greater than our father Jacob,

Are you,

Who gave us the well,

And drank of it himself,

And his sons,

And his cattle?

Jesus answered and said to her,

Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him,

She will never thirst,

But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.

The woman said to him,

Sir,

Give me this water,

So I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.

He said to her,

Go,

Call your husband and come here.

The woman answered and said,

I have no husband.

Jesus said to her,

You have correctly said I have no husband,

For you have had five husbands,

And the one whom you now have is not your husband.

This you have said truly.

The woman said to him,

Sir,

I perceive that you are a prophet.

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain,

And you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Jesus said to her,

Woman,

Believe me,

An hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the father.

You worship what you do not know,

We worship what we know,

For salvation is from the Jews.

An hour is coming,

And now is,

When the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and in truth.

For such people the father seeks to be his worshippers.

God is spirit,

And those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

The woman said to him,

I know that Messiah is coming.

He who is called Christ,

And when that one comes,

He will declare all things to us.

Jesus said to her,

I who speak to you am he.

Now I invite you to close your eyes and place your feet firmly on the floor beneath you.

Rest your hands lightly in your lap and take a few deep breaths.

Imagine you're walking out to get water from the local well,

But not just any well,

Jacob's well.

To everyone in your community,

This well is important.

It's the symbol of God's faithfulness to his people.

It was where God first appeared to Abram and Canaan,

And renewed his promise to give the land to him and his descendants.

This was where the patriarch built an altar to God.

But you couldn't go early in the morning like everyone else,

Before the heat came.

Life hasn't been kind to you.

People talk behind your back and under their breath about you.

You found yourself in situations that broke the normal idea of what was right and pure.

People judge you before they really know you,

And so you just keep to yourself.

You're from the other side of the tracks.

So you come to get water when no one else is here to give you a hard time in the peak of the heat of the day.

As you walk towards the well,

About a mile from your home,

Your clothes start to become heavy with sweat from the sweltering sun.

There's no one else around,

Just how you like it.

What are you hearing?

As you begin to approach the well of Jacob,

Your heart sinks.

You notice a man standing there.

He looks tired.

You debate just turning around and going back home,

But you've already come this far,

And you really need the water.

Plus from his clothing,

He appears to be a Jew,

And they wouldn't be caught dead talking to a Samaritan like you.

You slow your pace and approach the well,

Hoping the man won't bother you.

You take the clay vessel in your hands and start to lower it with a rope into the well.

Would you give me a drink of water?

The man says to you.

You stop lowering the vessel into the well and slowly look over at the man.

What are you seeing?

Where are the lines on his face?

What is he wearing?

Why would a Jew speak to you,

And in broad daylight?

Why would he be willing to make himself unclean by sharing a cup with you?

Your face must have been obvious because he spoke again.

If you only knew how generous God is,

You would be asking me for a drink,

And I would give you fresh,

Living water.

You chuckle a bit despite yourself.

He doesn't even have a vessel or a rope to lower it with.

You ask him how he expects to get this so-called living water.

He says to you,

Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again.

Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst,

Not ever.

The water I give will be a spring within,

Gushing fountains of endless life.

What are you feeling?

You tell him to give you this living water so that you won't ever have to come back to this well again.

Look at your beloved,

He says,

And you look away and become silent.

You have no beloved,

He says.

You've tried and tried,

But it never works.

So this man thinks himself a prophet.

You try and change the subject.

You ask him to tell you this.

Your ancestors worshipped God at this mountain,

But Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship,

Right?

He gives you a long,

Loving look.

Believe me,

The time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem.

You worship guessing in the dark.

You worship in the clear light of day by intimately knowing.

God's way of liberation is made available through the Jews.

But the time is coming,

It has come in fact,

When what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

God is sheer being itself,

Spirit.

Those who worship being must do it from within their very being,

Their spirits,

Their true selves in adoration.

It all seems so confusing to you.

How could it not matter where you worship or what group you belong to?

You know this man speaks the truth,

But you're unsure of what to do with it.

You say to him,

When the anointed one arrives,

Look at the whole story.

His gaze pierces you.

You don't have to wait any longer.

I am he.

Reviews

Nice! Thank you for the relaxing and insightful journey. It is very similar to Peter and Susan Pitzele’s Bibliodrama.

Thank you. The story of the woman at the well is favorite. May we all live in spirit and truth🙏🏻

Love the visual approach & will be looking for more like it. Thank you. 🙏

This is one of my favorites from Methods. It has really helped me connect to this piece of scripture.

Thank you for helping me explore this passage in a whole new way.