The Water Pump
Merlin Frei
When I was about 10 years old, my parents allowed me to travel alone on the train from Idaho Falls to Nampa, Idaho to visit my cousin, Harry. He lived on a farm near the small town of Marsing, Idaho. It was an unforgettable experience for me and we enjoyed being together again.
During the week Harry and I did some exploring some-where near the Snake River and discovered an old water pump. This pump had a long handle that worked like a fulcrum to make a rod move up and down the pump shaft. Harry said if we primed the pump, by pouring water into it, maybe we could make it work. We immediately fetched some water from the river and began the tedious work of pumping. We about wore ourselves out running to and from the river to pour water down that old pump and finally had to give up trying to get water from it.
Years later, after I began my teaching career for the Latter-Day-Saints Seminaries and Institutes, I was reminded of that experience when a fellow teacher shared with me an interesting song about an old water pump, that was put to music by the Kingston Trio, a popular group during the 1960’s. They called their song: Desert Pete.
The lyrics spoke of a cowboy who was traveling west to Buckskin on his way to a cattle run. He was hot, tired and thirsty, so he stopped to rest on a stump, when to his surprise he saw this old water pump. Then our cowboy saw a note, stuck in a baking powder can. It was from Desert Pete. The note spoke of a jar of water hidden under a rock, with the instructions not to drink it, but pour it down the pump to prime it. If the directions were followed, including; “pump that handle like there is a fire!” The promise was that you could, “cool your thirst, wash your feet, but leave the bottle full for others, thank you kindly, Desert Pete.”
My teacher friend, and I, talked about the pump, the note, the baking powder can, and the bitter’s jar with the stale water for priming the pump. We applied meaning to each symbol.
I would like to focus on only two of those symbols:
The water in the bitter’s jar.
The water in the well.
Let us now return to our cowboy and the pump. He had two choices: Drink the warm, stale, brackish, water from the bitters jar or pour the warm, stale, water from the jar into the pump with the hope of retrieving cool refreshing water,
Of the stale, brackish water in the jar, the cowboy said,
“I tell ya; nothin’ was ever prettier to my eye, and I was tempted strong to drink it ‘cause that pump looked mighty dry.” He made his choice and put his faith in the pump. He sacrificed all the precious water from the bitters jar and pumped like there was a fire! As a reward of his faith and effort, he was rewarded with water, “bubblin’ and splashin’ out of that hole in the ground” and was able to drink to his full, “wash his face and cool his feet.”
The symbolism in this story is similar to the story of Jesus and the woman of Samaria at Jacob’s Well. This story is in John Chapter 4 and is one we ought to read again and again. Jesus and his apostles were traveling from Judea to Galilee. They took the route through Samaria, which was usually avoided by Jews, because of their hatred of the Samaritans.
Jesus and his apostles came to Jacob’s Well, near the city of Sychar in the Province of Samaria. He was weary because of the journey and rested at the well, while his apostles went into the city to buy food.
Soon a woman of Samaria came to the well and Jesus asked her for a drink of water. She was astonished at the request. She asked of him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water (John 4:9-10).
The woman questioned Jesus about the water in the well and living water, and asked, Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the
well. . .?
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:12-14).
The Woman of Samaria desired the Living Water. The Spirit bore witness to her that Jesus was indeed the Promised Messiah and she became a witness of him to all in the city.
She made the choice to forsake her sins and chose to follow Christ and enjoy the Living Water he offered to all who would come unto him. These choices are rarely easy, even though the rewards are so great. The pull of the world is like the stale, brackish water. It is readily available and can be so alluring. I want it now, can be so “pretty to our eye and we are tempted strong to drink it, ‘cause that pump looks mighty dry.” It requires faith to sacrifice the brackish water and “pump that handle like there’s a fire”—hoping for a return on our faith.
After all, there is a possibility we may lose even that, if we are casual in our pumping. God warned us that . .if we receive a commandment with a doubtful heart and keep it with slothfulness, the same is damned (Doctrine and Covenants 58: 29). He expects us to serve him with our whole heart, might, mind and strength (Doctrine and Covenants 4:2).
Alma taught of Christ’s loving atonement to his son Corianton, who had sinned grievously, and invited him to choose liberty and eternal life (Living Water) with these words:
Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds (Alma 42:27). He also taught us how to develop a desire to receive Living Water, or the Tree of Life, (both being symbols of the Celestial Kingdom) in Alma Chapter 32. He concluded his exhortation with these inviting words: . . behold by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.
Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of our faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you (Alma 32:42-43).
Let us make wise choices by choosing good over evil and reaping the reward of cool, refreshing Living Water!