I spent this past weekend in the province of Svay Rieng. My dear friends and former coworkers at Children At Risk invited me to join them (and a team from Taiwan) for some well drilling and community work in a village where they are building a new center.
When we went I had the chance to see how the well drilling process goes from start until the water begins to burst from the ground. I was struck by it all. They choose the spot where they will drill, and simply begin to go at it, pushing a huge metal pole into the ground until the water begins to flow (that's the simplified explanation). The family the well was being drilled for had been struggling without clean water to drink. They would go door to door trying to ask their neighbors if they had water to spare. The dirty water they did have would rust and discolor all of their plates and utensils. All the while, there was clean water running underneath their land.
I thought about how that water was always there, they just didn't have the means to access it. They weren't given something new, but rather given the ability and tools to reach that which was already theirs to begin with.
A lot of spiritual teachers and mystics I have been reading lately (such as Richard Rohr) speak about faith and spirituality as being something that happens to you rather than something you achieve. God and the Divine are always working, the change comes for us when we begin to realize and access that. I never understood that idea until recently.
I am experiencing so much growth and inner healing right now, and I'm realizing that it's not due to any changes in my situation or environment. Quite the opposite, these things I have begun to see were always there and I am only now learning to see them within myself and others. It's an amazing experience, I'm excited to see the waters continue to flow.
