Water at the Well

"Don't Look for Water at an Empty Well"  


There are several ways to interpret this saying but the primary idea is that you can't find what you are looking for in a place where there are no resources. 


The Well as a metaphor can represent the always flowing Divine source where the well is always full. It's when we look for something or someone to be the Well instead of remembering the Divinity of the Well that we find emptiness, for no person, place, or thing can ever provide us with continuous nourishment in the way our connection to the Divine can. 


Another possible interpretation of this saying is seeing the Well as your own energy that, when empty, can't provide you with the necessary energy for life. I used to have a recurring dream when my energies were drained; I was standing by my car at the gas station with an empty gas tank!  What a great dream message to remind me that it was time to increase my true rest, take some time off from work, and replenish myself. True rest can provide us with rejuvenation and can fill up our own personal Well.


Finally, the Well can also be seen as another person or "thing".  Often times we look to resolve issues within ourselves through our relationships as we create situations where we come face to face with our losses, expectations, and fears; We seek love from a person who cannot freely love us and find the Well empty. We seek compassion from those who are not compassionate, honesty and truth from those who are not honest, integrity from those who do not know themselves. We seek to be filled by substances which are merely substitutions. All of these attempts to find connection through externals will find us with an empty bucket at the Well as no one person or "thing" can ever be the Divine Well which is always present and flowing. 


Our own work is to develop awareness of the Divine Well and to connect to it through daily prayer and meditation, always finding the overflowing source of abundance and grace.