Being there is truly the art of well-being. The miracle of serenity materialises instantly when the welcoming face gazes at the burdened one, when the peaceful person offers an oasis to the deserted one.

It is the time for manifestos, proposals and programmes but since we have acknowledged to dwell in a human ‘Christianised’ society, multiplying wells is becoming pressing. Digging, refashioning, refurbishing and remodelling spaces of personal fulfilment may not be popular but it is human. It may not necessarily win votes but can confer on people existential sanity.

It is fascinating that Jesus not only decides to sit beside a daily used well at Sychar in Samaria but he awaits the face of the person coming with the empty bucket. God has time! He has the liberty to propose not an immediate five-year programme of success but a gentle faithfulness for human well-being.

Wells need time to fill up and the human person needs a presence to fill not his pocket but his heart. What captures the woman’s attention that day next to the well? The new presence beside the old well. The offer of refusing false autonomy in favour of reconciliation.

Our wells, our civic organisations and our ecclesial presence in Malta require refashioning old wells. They necessitate a multiplication of new wells. There is a call of being there by being with the frenetic and sometimes ‘robotic’ heart of the person.

Like digging wells, this needs time and resilience but it counts more than votes, since it is water.