Living Water

by Obery Hendricks

Overview

In the Bible she is a fleeting but haunting presence, the iconic "woman at the well" who encounters Jesus. Inspired by this tantalizing biblical scene, Obery Hendricks's Living Water spins the complete story of her life in rich, gripping detail. From a childhood torn between love and violence through a tumultuous coming-of-age,she struggles to mute her passion for life in a society that wants to break her spirit. Catapulted into a series of abusive marriages, cast out and despised, she is a woman who has lost her own voice -- until a chance meeting with a remarkable stranger from Galilee whose words reawaken her thirst for life and love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060000882
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	01/06/2004
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

A former Wall Street investment executive, professional musician, and competitive martial artist, Obery Hendricks is the immediate past president of Payne Theological Seminary, the oldest African American seminary in the United States. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Professor of Biblical Studies at New York Theological Seminary. This is his first novel.

What People are Saying About This

Iyanla Vanzant

“A divinely inspired bridge to a new level of self-awareness. A must read.”

Cornel West

“Living Water is an exemplary novel for our times. Don’t miss this book!”

Michael Eric Dyson

“It is hard to believe that this is Hendricks’ first trip to the literary well.”

Editorial Reviews

Inspired by the New Testament vignette about the woman at the well, first-time novelist Hendricks imagines the life story of a Samaritan woman who spreads the word of God after an encounter with Jesus Christ. Growing up, Maryam is viewed with suspicion in her village; neighbors derisively call her "gibora," meaning brave and bold-qualities that girls are not supposed to have. Since the humiliating day when the Roman soldiers stripped and beat the Samaritan men in front of their wives and children, the men have treated women as chattel. When she's 12, Maryam's father marries her to Jalon, a spoiled, dissipated youth, but Jalon divorces her under the law of erwat dabar, which allows husbands to cast aside wives virtually at will. Having no other means of support, Maryam remarries four more times to a sorry collection of men, two of whom commit suicide, before finding Yeshua, a gentle, like-minded husband. She meets Jesus at the well when he asks for a drink of water, promising in return "a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Maryam is surprised that he speaks to her, as Jews don't normally have dealings with Samaritans, let alone Samaritan women. At Jesus' bidding, Maryam brings Yeshua to meet him, and Jesus sends them out to preach the word that men and women are equal under God. Hendricks has his characters speak in Southern black vernacular ("Why men treat women like that?... Sumpin wrong with women?"), which, while slightly distracting at first, is surprisingly effective. The slow-moving action and inspirational tone will turn off some readers, but those interested in biblical history will appreciate this inventive variation. (Feb.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

An unusual first novel by Hendricks, immediate past president of the Payne Theological Seminary, depicts the life of a minor character in the Gospel of St. John.

The Woman at the Well appears only once in the Gospels-in the fourth chapter of John, where Christ, asking her for a drink of water, says he can offer in return "the living water" that will satisfy her thirst for all eternity. From this brief episode, Hendricks fleshes out a fully imagined biography of the woman, named Maryam, from her early childhood during the Roman occupation to her new life as a disciple of the Messiah. He creates a portrait of an entire world, as well-one where women are treated as chattel by men who can, and do, divorce them at will. Maryam, known throughout her village as a gibora (wild girl), is a spirited and independent woman who finds wifely submission difficult-and is often discarded by her husbands as a result. Like most abandoned women of the time, she faces a stark choice-prostitution or remarriage-and most men willing to marry divorcées are no great catches. For Maryam, then, it comes as something of a shock to find that Christ not only speaks to her as an equal (no Jew of those days would have spoken to a woman in public) but also entrusts her with the mission of taking the good news of his preaching back to her village. As a disciple, she transcends role models entirely, since (as St. Paul says somewhere) "in Christ there is neither male nor female."

An intriguing idea, yet Hendricks's debut never comes to life. The device of having the characters speak in southern black patois ("They're all raggedy and boys be throwing rocks at them and people be ignoring them and everything!") isdisconcerting, and Christ himself sounds more like New Age guru ("Prepare yourselves to be vessels of love") than savior.

Kirkus Reviews

Refreshing wit and enlightenment... you’ll never read the Gospel story the same way again. A provocative novel

Christian Science Monitor

It is hard to believe that this is Hendricks’ first trip to the literary well.

Michael Eric Dyson

Living Water is an exemplary novel for our times. Don’t miss this book!

Cornel West

A divinely inspired bridge to a new level of self-awareness. A must read.

Iyanla Vanzant