Jesus taught profound truth to a woman at the well, when He said “God is spirit and His worshippers must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Lacking courage to face the people who despised her, she had come to fill water at noon, when people were usually resting.
But Jesus was not like the others; He asked her for water. A bridge of communion was built, and the water of life Jesus freely gives to all, transformed her. With new strength, she fearlessly returned to her village, proclaiming her experience of life. Imagine the amazement of the villagers when they heard her testimony.
Here was a woman who was living an adulterous life, now proclaiming the One who could give life. On hearing her testimony, the entire village was amazed, broken relationships reconciled and hostility put to death.
The Spirit imparts the love of life and energizes to share the same with others. When were you last conscious of the working of the Spirit of life? Human life comes truly alive and brims with happiness when it affirms other life and is itself affirmed. In light of the destruction human beings are inflicting on nature, and in the face of ever increasing death and destruction all over the world, it is imperative we affirm our love for life.
It is alarming if we get used to death; at least the death of fellow humans and other creatures. So the essential act is to affirm love of life. People who genuinely love life say no to poverty and no to war. People who truly affirm life, struggle against injustice and violence and refuse to get used to it; they do not conform they resist.
Let us affirm an unconditional affirmation of life, and an all-inclusive reverence for life. Let us be converted from death to love of life.