Jesus went from Judea to Galilee. In between laid Samaria, a place many Jews tried to avoid. But Jesus decided He “had to go through Samaria.” (John 4:4) While the two tribes were building the wall of hatred and prejudice, Jesus stepped into the land of Samaria with love as much as He had for anywhere else.
A brother at the Bible study says, “find the Samaria in your life — -the place you want to avoid but in fact you should treat it with heart.” All of a sudden I come across some moments in my life. They are attached to sentiments that are either extremely hurt or extremely proud. Once they become the past, I often feel the pain to touch them. They are my unavoidable Samaria. For the dark moments, the pain is like a healing scar that I can’t help but go back to rub it. For the moments of rejoicing, the pain is like saying goodbye to a dear friend.
But life is a journey of moving forward not backward. It requires more courage to go through than to avoid. Jesus was fully divine and fully human. Even “He was tired from his journey,”(Jesus 4:6), He summoned the strength to break down the wall and send his love. This is so powerful that it guides me to go through the Samaria zones in my life.
Firstly, the controlling illusion. As a parent, I am always terrified by the moments of realization that I will have to let go of my son and let him explore the world on his own. It starts with the first step he made on the floor and only gets worse whenever I see one day he will run away for whatever reasons. Julie Lythcott-Haims, a professor at Stanford University, addresses these moments, “Like every other mammal parent we need to raise offspring who can fend for themselves out in the world without us.”
Nobody has unlimited control. Instead of accumulating exhaustion to both the controller and controlled, why don’t we just give control to human being nature not our personal interests?
Second, physical things. I keep some old stuff like staying a dream that I don’t want to wake up from. A souvenir from a holiday, a trophy from a high school game, a wedding videotape that I can’t find the device to play with now. I used to be obsessed with items that are measured by money. Luxury cars, fancy watches, the newest iPhones, dresses, and so on. We tend to attach sentimental value to the physical things. While savoring the joy of possession, we have a weird desire to impress others with these personal items. When the other person doesn’t have the same sentimental value, which is often the case, the cheer you expect could come as a sneer. How can you impress a person with a fancy car who happens to be a computer nerd?
As a Chinese saying goes, “the cheapest things are those that can be bought by money; the easiest problems are those that can be solved by money.” Don’t feel bad to let go of these cheap stuff.
Three, the relationship. We meet countless passengers in the life journey while lifelong friends are just a tiny fraction. At length, most friends become passengers, too, and the only person I have relationship with are the uplifting God and myself. Friends are mostly in a specific time frame and life stage. A friendship may just belong to the past moment that doesn’t reflect who I am now. I used to be so thrilled about a relationship or friendship that I screamed it would last forever. Only one day I realized that I hadn’t spoken to him or her for years. Friendship may stay forever. But connection? We may have no choice but let it go.
Four, give up the goals. How many goals we have set up in our life? Summer plan, new year resolution, 5-year plan, the career plan, retirement plan, a long list. As the saying goes, “A life without goals is a marathon without a finish line.” I used to drain myself trying so hard to hit the lines, until one day I realized that the steps in life journey are bigger than the destination. What a boring journey if I just look to the end and overlook the flowers and thorns along the road. Plus, a rigid goal race could reduce the capacity to wade through unchartered waters. An unexpected illness and a pandemic outbreak could, and already have, turn my life upside down and all the efforts are shattered. One of my favorite prayers is: “Give up everything and let God work.” I keep telling myself that don’t waste every single day that He graciously offers us; for the rest, listen to God — “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord (Jeremiah 29:11).
Jesus’s devotion sent him to go through Samaria. I long for the same faith and strength to go through the unavoidable Samaria zones in my life. “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”(John 2:17)
