There is a dead tree in my back yard...

There is a dead tree in my back yard. It is my fault, last year, we planted a dogwood tree in the corner of our yard. I had all the best intentions, but I forgot to water the tree. We don’t have a spigot back there and so I have to lug a bucket of water to the tree to be able to water it. That is one of my excuses. The rain watered the tree some, but it was a long, hot,dry summer. I have known for a while the tree was dead, I can see it from my living room, but I feel bad. I feel guilty. I feel like I failed to do such a simple thing, water this little tree. I need to go dig it up, that is the practical thing to do, but I feel bad, I feel like a failure. I know that it is just a tree, that it bears no ill feelings toward me, holds no grudges, but that dead tree reminds me of all the times I have made a promise or commitment and failed. That dead tree reminds me of so many times I have tried to do something and have fallen short, my best intentions sometimes haunt me like a graveyard of broken promises...the sewing machine I bought and never took out of the box...the birthday cards I bought but never sent...the recipe I downloaded but never made...the books I have never read...the people I have not called...the prayer time I have moved a thousand times. There is a dead tree in my back yard, all it needed was a little water, a little care, I know what I should’ve done, but I didn’t, and so this lifeless solitary branch stands in a corner of my back yard a visual reminder of how all I need sometimes is a little water, a little love, and the caring hands of my creator to give me life so I can bear fruit.

Jesus offers the Samaritan Woman living water, and we understand immediately, we hear Jesus say, “I will give you living water and you will never thirst again” and the very words, the idea refreshes our souls. As I was praying my way through this passage this week, God gave me a new insight to this story that I have read so many times. Worship is our living water. Worship in spirit and truth refreshes my weary soul.

There is a dead tree in my backyard.....It’s my fault, I planted this tree, but I forgot to water it.

I look at that dead tree from my living room window and sometimes I feel like that, dried up, not bearing fruit, just taking up space. It’s my fault I feel like that, sometimes I forget to go to the well for water for myself.

Sometimes I forget to worship in spirit and in truth.

Sometimes I forget to come to Jesus and ask for the Living Water. But today, I remember. Any day we can make sacred space at an appointed time, we can go to the well to meet the Messiah. Let us not forget to ask for the living the water. Let us open our hearts and offer ourselves as a living in sacrifice so we can worship in spirit and truth. Let us be trees that grow, flourish, and bear fruit.