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Gospel Of the Samaritans — Part 1
Eldho Kuriakose
Eldho Kuriakose
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Jul 23 · 5 min read
Spring
I grew up in a small village in the southern Indian state of Kerala in the 1980s. Nature was abundant, technology was scarce. Government issued ration cards kept shopping and commerce sufficiently boring — freeing us to live in community. Our disposable plates were leaves plucked from the side of the road; our cutlery was our own dutifully washed brown fingers. Our eyes were illumined not by iPhones, but by the sun, stars and the glow of fireflies. I didn’t know it at the time, but life was intentional, the world was abundant, flavors were deep, family was complete, and the seasons were our friends.
It was in this all-encompassing paradise that I discovered what a spring is. Not the mechanical, wound-up type, but the moist, magical surprises that the Earth playfully sprinkles along our path after a night of heavy rains. While waiting for my 1st grade school bus, I noticed the strange ripples and undulating patterns of sand at the bottom of a road-side puddle. My mom explained that deep in the earth, water is stored in rocks waiting to be touched by the waters from the sky — when they connect, the rocks release their water and fertilize the land with minerals that flavor our fruits.
In a few years, we left Kerala and moved to Queens NY — instead of ration cards, we had coupons — in our mailbox, on the back of receipts, overflowing out of the massive Sunday NY Times. Nature was groomed and curated for us in the Flushing Botanical Garden. We drove 40 miles to BJs wholesale club and bought stacks of disposable plates, forks cups and sodas. The only reference to “Spring” was in the TV commercials for Poland Springs bottled water.
Today, I am a 43 year old man, surrounded by glowing screens, incessantly reminded by my devices and hyper-personalized ads that my life is incomplete without the next purchase, where everything is ‘as a service’, and nothing is owned, only consumed. The seasons are un-moored and disconsolate, and people have largely forgotten what a spring is.
Like our society today, Samaria was in the throngs of rapid change in 30 CE. Trade, technology, military conquest, migration, immigration and growing human population was driving cultural diffusion, blurring identities and challenging long-held beliefs about Gods, natural and ethical laws. In such times of chaos, the base instincts of the human mind grasp for certainty, contrast and a manufactured sense of identity. The Jews hated the Samaritans while the Samaritans believed they were the true guardians of the Torah. The two groups satisfied themselves by clinging to petty differences in worship patterns and paternity to lay the foundation for mutual hatred.
Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman presents us with lessons on how we may rethink our world view, rediscover eternal springs and how we may heal and honor one another.
Lesson 1: Dignify others by asking for their help
John 4: 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
The Samaritan woman said to him,
“You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”
There are infinite ways in which society strips people of their dignity and teaches them to consider themselves unworthy. Her response is loaded with cultural and gender baggage that reflect a deep sense of worthlessness that could only have been implanted by society. In fact, for her to brave the mid-day heat to fetch water suggests that she is trying to avoid being noticed or labeled by others in the community.
How are we to undo this type of conditioning for ourselves and for our fellow beings? Jesus’ idea is to ask for help.
In confronting her with a request, he dignifies her. He suggest that she too is full of grace. She too can be an ocean of mercy. She too has an inner fountain.
Lesson 2: Recognize The Treachery of Tradition
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
Years of conditioning by rituals and habits leave us handicapped to think independently. This indictment applies to habits and rituals of religions as well as broader society. Can we conceive of our identity beyond the tools and paraphernalia? Do the problems we face today require references to the greatness of past figures and narratives about their livestock?
Lesson 3: Springs are within
Jesus Answered “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The water secured by ropes and pails out of the well of tradition nourish but also drain. The water that springs from within enables a new pattern of living — one that is abundant, flowing across artificially created boundaries, bringing dignity and self-worth.
Lesson 4: It’s not possible to tap into the spring of life without relationships
He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
Jesus is highlighting a reality that abundance cannot manifest without a relationship in which it is shared. There’s no admonition for her to ‘sin no more’ — this is not about her being caught in sin. There’s simply an invitation for her to live more intentionally and relate deeply — going beyond roles and labels.
Lesson 5: It is difficult to leave old ways of thought
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus said “…God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
Too often, humans need an external messiah even when the Messiah shows them their own Messiah-hood. In this final statement, the woman falls back into the state of someone who is looking for miracles, signs and allows tradition to confound her. Getting beyond religious labels (Samaritan mountain or Jewish Temple) is the first step in discerning spirit and truth.
Spirit and truth reside within. If they didn’t how could we trust ourselves to do anything? Even the notion of ‘surrendering to God’ requires an active decision from within. To maintain full surrender, one must be in full control — so why not accept our own Responsibility, Inner light, Self-worth and Inner Spring? The world needs to be nourished with springs of eternal life.

Christianity