The Well

The Well
18" x 24"
[click on image to enlarge]

Water is one of life's most essential requirements. That is more obvious in desert places. The painting somewhat reflects the relative presence or absence of water on the right and left sides - a condition not uncommon in the Middle East.

This is my interpretation of Jacob's well, in Sychar, immortalized in scripture by the account of the Samaritan woman and her encounter with the Savior. She was taught, challenged, edified and sanctified.

This scene depicts a time after that encounter. The Savior is no longer present. It occurred to me that the woman needs to 'return to the well' on  a frequent basis to renew that spiritual experience. Without that renewal she and the others converted will surely not endure to the end. She will need to revisit the Divine and commune there or she will surely wither and perish.

Our lives are blessed with spiritual high points, but then we return to Samaria and the mundane, the cares of the world and the diminished fire of our memory cause the uplifting water to slowly evaporate.

We all need to return to the spiritual wells of our past experiences. We do this by meditation, holy scripture, communion and returning to memory's journal of those spiritual highlights. 

The Living Water is available and we once felt and knew of it.
This painting is a reminder to cherish and revisit those times.