Distance: 29.3 km, Intermediate
We know the importance of smart packing as we make the journey. We must let go of what doesn’t serve us and pack only that which is necessary. One thing that we can’t make the trek without is water.
While the pilgrim is advised to have a pack that weighs ten percent or less of their body weight, they must also consider the weight of the water they will need to stay hydrated as they walk long distances. Of course there are places to refill water bottles along the way, as we move through towns and villages, but nonetheless water can be a weighty resource to carry.
For many modern pilgrims, a water bladder is built into their pack. Popularly known as a Camelback, this modern amenity keeps water cool while also distributing the weight throughout the pack. In my case, I can have up to 2.5 liters in my pack at a time. This means that before I start drinking, I’ve already got an extra five and a half pounds on my back! But this weight in particular is worth it. Without water the pilgrim is toast.
In Psalm 63, the Psalmist sings:
O God, you are my God—
it is you I seek!
For you my body yearns;
for you my soul thirsts,
In a land parched, lifeless,
and without water.
I look to you in the sanctuary
to see your power and glory.
For your love is better than life;
my lips shall ever praise you!
Our souls long for the love of God, for the Divine Presence that revives our spirits. We find this presence in the Holy Eucharist at Mass and in the presence of community and our seeking communion with others. In community, we taste the goodness of God together. We share the Good News of God’s presence and offer to one another glimpses of God at work in our lives.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus has his longest recorded conversation with another person. In John 4:5-42, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well at midday. The interaction that unfolds is a beautiful testament to Jesus’ deep, heartfelt knowledge of each of us. While we might feel like an outsider in some areas of our lives, with Jesus we are never strangers. We are never outcast. We are beloved friends. We are known and trusting in the One who knows us, our souls are filled to overflowing.
The Samaritan Woman at the Well shows us that and, like she does for the people in her town who’d cast her aside, she shares the “living water” of Christ. This water feeds us. It keeps us alive. It is not haughty and it is not weighty. In fact, it liberates us because it knows us and it loves us.
Today, read the story of the woman at the well (John 4:5-42). Once you’ve read it, in prayer or on your walk, ask Jesus, “What do you know about me that you want me to know?” Listen to Jesus’s response and let yourself be known. Then reflect on what drinking the “living water” of Christ’s love stirs up in you. What are you thirsty for? Who in your life needs their thirst quenched by Christ’s Good News of deep love and knowing? How might you offer a drink of lifegiving water to another?