Water for the Camels

Genesis 24: 12-19

Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'-let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."

Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar." "Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking."

Genesis 24, the betrothal of Isaac and Rebekah, reads as though it were written by one of your in-laws, the one who repeats the same three stories over and over and over again. First we hear the arrangement in the servant's prayer, then we hear it unfold exactly as it was in the prayer, then we listen to the servant tell about the prayer and story all over again, from the beginning.

Of course, Rebekah and her brother Laban brought it on themselves. If I saw a stranger with 10 cars hanging around a convenience store and muttering to himself, my first thought wouldn't be, "Let's get him a drink and fill up all his cars with gas!"  But Rebekah was more hospitable than I am, welcoming the stranger, watering his camels, and inviting him to stay. Then Laban- Laban and his, "Please tell us your story" business. Most people know that it is a dangerous thing to invite a chatty person to tell their story. You might still be there three weeks later.

But their unconventional kindness worked out for them. Rebekah's manic camel watering and Laban's patient listening opened new possibilities for Rebekah and somehow accomplished God's will.

As I run around this week rehearsing pageants, throwing holiday parties at work that only strangers will attend, and thinking pessimistically about the same three topics we will discuss at Christmas dinner with my in-laws, I could stand to take a lesson from Rebekah and Laban.

Sometimes it helps to feed the strangers and water all of their 15 million camels. Sometimes it helps to listen to their story. Sometimes feeding and listening is all that God is asking you to do.

Comments

[Sarah]

hmmm.....3 topics: death, disease, and ???
Hope this week goes ok for you, my dear. Smooches. Thanks for all the great posts!