AI is rather frightening. I asked my app to write a prayer in the style of the 17th Century Book of Common Prayer, giving thanks to God for the benefits of resting by the sea, sipping a Martini. (I’m neither a great fan of the sea, and even less so of Martini, which gives you an indication of the idle fantasy of the moment.) The result was a revelation! It turns out that this sort of scenario is quite a respectable thing to ask of the Almighty.
Each of us will have a view of what a truly happy existence would be like, but they would probably include one common feature, a few strong relationships. And there’s an interesting story in the Bible to illustrate how vital relationships are.
Jesus, by himself for a change, meets a woman out looking for water in the burning heat of the day, by a well.
We come to know that this nameless woman has been married five times and the man she is living with is not her husband. In her society, she is a cause of scandal. That is why she is out collecting water at noon.
We might want to know, in this #MeToo era, how men have treated her, but the story says nothing more about her past. Everything is focused on this strange encounter and Jesus’ offer, with no bucket of his in sight, to give her ‘living’ or ‘running’ water.
It turns out that Jesus is offering a living relationship so deep that anyone who drinks of it will never thirst again: “the water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life”. The woman leaves her own water-jar by the well to tell others of her remarkable encounter.
There seem to me two ways of making sense of these strange words. There is the religious way, where ordinary things are necessarily excluded from the happiness mix, and there is the inclusive way where every fruitful relationship can be included, where part of the ‘gushing up’ of living water is the energy of many different sources of vitality being brought together in a full and happy life.
Relationships with people would come top of the list, but relationships with pets can for many be as close. Relationship with creation is a hot topic – how can we enjoy it without exploiting it? And lastly relationships with our possessions. We forget to own what we have. As Marie Kondo says, we should only keep whatever sparks joy in us.
To be happy we must draw on the right kind of water, water that runs and lives, bringing the vitality of multifaceted, multidimensional relationship, and bringing together the material and the spiritual.
The nameless woman could be any one of us who feels herself thirsty, working hard just to exist, with all the knocks of a chequered history. There is sploshing, refreshing water to be found that cannot be held in a bucket.
It’s interesting how the AI prayer that I mentioned came out, emphasising first relationship with God, then with the depths of creation, then with the drink in question – in moderation! – and adding an element of good company, because surely it would be better not to be alone on this mythical shore.
The prayer is marked by a sense of abundance, by a quiet savouring of the experience, and by a gratitude for the grace poured out to overflowing from the wellspring of God’s mercy:
A Prayer for Rest by the Sea, by Microsoft Copilot
O God, who stillest the storm and calms the restless tide,
Grant us peace as we draw near the shore of Thy creation.
Bless this hour of quiet, beneath the sun’s gentle gaze,
Where the waves speak Thy mercy, and the breeze Thy grace.
As we take our rest beside the waters deep,
Sipping the fruit of the vine with gladness and moderation,
Let our hearts be lifted in thanksgiving for Thy bounty,
And our minds be eased from the labours of the day.
Refresh us, body and soul, with the salt of the sea and the joy of good company.
May this moment of leisure be not idle, but holy;
A foretaste of Thy eternal Sabbath, where joy and peace abound.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who walked beside Galilee’s shore,
And knew the blessing of quiet places. Amen.