A man got lost in the desert. Walking and walking, he was so desperate to slack his thirst with a drink of water, then, he found a shack and entered to look for water. There was no water except an old, rusty water pump. He run to it and pumped it. No water came out. He staggered back, weak, discouraged. He squatted on the floor. He found a jug beside him. He took it and brushed the dust off the outside markings. “You have to pour the water from this jug to make the pump work. P.S. Be sure to refill the jug with water for the next use,” it said. Thoughts were racing: “Should I pour all the water? If so, what if the pump won’t work? Or should I just drink the water? If so, what about the next user? If I poured all the water, I could lose everything. It could yield fresh, cold water as well. If I just drink all the water, there won’t be any water to pump out water from the well.” He thought for awhile and then poured all the water. At first, no water came out. “Squeak, squeak, squeak,” sounded the pump until finally water gushed forth. He had enough water for himself and for the next user. He took the jug and added the following words: “Believe me, it really works. You have to give everything away before you can have a refill of good water.”

Lent is a time to entrust ourselves more deeply to the Lord and to trust fully in his life-giving word. This is not easy, because within us is a constant voice (not from God) which asks, "What if this does not work"?  It really comes down to whose voice will I really listen to. When I listened to the other voice, what happened? Temporary satisfaction. What did I miss out? Union with God now forever. Like the man in the story you have to trust and act on the word. Nothing may happen at first, but then the life-giving water wells up.  The risk and the waiting is worth it in the end.