A Letter From The Pastor

   Well….it looks like we are in the Dog days of summer. But what does that really mean? The
term “Dog Days” traditionally refers to a period of particularly hot and humid weather occurring during the summer months of July and August in the Northern Hemisphere. My dog Benny loves water, he is always drinking it and making a mess. Everyone now a days carries around in a thermos or water bottle. I myself take one with me especially when I drive. I was never like that, but I now must have water next to me when I watch TV, or in my office. A cold glass of water always hits the spot.

   The word “water” is used 482 times in the bible. Water. Where it's plentiful, we tend to take it for granted, like air. We stay in the shower longer like my son Patrick, we hose down a dusty driveway, we let a sprinkler shoot out water for hours to keep the grass green. Not so in the desert, where even plants hoard water. There, water takes on a mythical feeling. Taunting visions of pools and streams dance in the heat waves. A craving for water crowds out all other thoughts, and one spoonful, on a parched tongue, is worth its weight in gold. The one bible story that always sticks out in my mind when water is mentioned, is the
Samaritan woman and Jesus talking at the well. Jesus was going through Samaira when he came to the town of Sychar, near a plot of land Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacobs well was there, so Jesus being tired from his journey sat down to rest. It was almost the sixth hour when a Samaritan women came to draw water. When she arrived, Jesus asked her for a drink of water. What’s wrong with Jesus? Was he having a heat stroke or something? The woman reminded Jesus that she was a Samaritan, and he was a Jew, (and they never got along). How can you ask me for a drink? (you see… a Jew would become ceremonially unclean if he used a drinking vessel handled by a Samaritan, since the Jews held that all Samaritans were "unclean." To a woman in a dry land who spent part of each day hauling clay jugs to and from a well, water was the most powerful symbol imaginable. Little wonder that when Jesus offered "living water" that would never run dry (4:4-30), the Samaritan woman paid attention. 

We too need to have that living water in our lives. That living water I speak of is the Holy Spirit. We get it when we read the bible, hold bible study, and go to church. This is where Jesus comes to us in his word and sacraments. There we learn and receive his most precious body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. If you are new to the church, please come and see what the church has to offer. If you would like, come talk to me after service.

Just imagine yourself in a private conversation with Jesus, much like the Samaritan woman.
What would you want to talk about?

Yours truly,

Pastor Tim Casaday Summer 2025