Prime Lessons

When we bought our house a couple of years ago, we discovered that the previous owners had been avid gardeners. We kind of suspected as much when we noticed that the backyard had been partitioned into a “play” area and a second area that had two old sheds, a “rolling” landscape, and dozens of old tomato plant cages. They had also built a detached garage with a greenhouse on the back of it with direct access into the “garden” part of the yard.

Included in this garage was a beat-up old contraption that had pipes, cables, and a bright blue tank of some kind that looks like a small, upside-down propane tank. As it turns out, this water pump was added to pull water from an underground well. They would use the well-water for the yard and garden as presumably it costs less for the electricity to run the pump than to use the city water.

This past weekend, we finally decided to give it a try and see if we could make the thing work. I knew the thing hadn’t run in awhile, and while it wasn’t the old lever-handled pumps of old, I recalled a song that my dad used to make my family listen to years ago. The song is called “Desert Pete,” and it’s about a guy who is traveling across a desert when he discovers an old water-pump.

The guy then notices a note in a can next to the pump that informs whoever finds it that the pump works, but in order to make it work, you have to prime the pump with the little bit of water in a jar hidden under the rock. As it goes, the pump looks VERY dry, and our wanderer is tempted to drink the water instead of priming the pump. However, heeding the promise on the note, he pours the water in, and as he pumps like crazy, the water freely begins gushing forth. The note goes on to ask whoever finds it to refill the jar and leave it for the next traveler.

Two things strike me about this story. The first is that many people are tempted to take the immediate satisfaction of drinking the water. These folks are “thirsty,” and while there is a promise of more than enough water to quench their thirst if they’re willing to put forth a bit more faith and effort, they would rather have just a little taste of what they want and crave, which can still leave them thirsty, than to work a bit harder to get more than enough of what they need.

Relationships are one example. Too many students decide that the teenage years is the appropriate time to experiment sexually. They rush into situations fueled by hormones and selfishness, and think they get what they want, only to discover that they still feel empty and need something else to fill their lives.

Jobs are another situation where we see this. I’ve known some very smart students who were fortunate enough to get well-paying jobs while in high school. When you’re sixteen, and you have very few real expenses, and you bring in two hundred dollars a week, there could be a strong temptation to drop out of school, keep working at that job, and continue making money. However, if that same person had continued to stay in school, and maybe even gone on to college, they would more than likely be able to find a job later that pays significantly more than they did in high school.

The second thing that struck me was the end of the note. “Please leave the bottle full for others…” This is an assumption that people will do kind things for other people. I don’t see that very often in our world today. Sure, there are still a few people who smile at you and treat you with respect, but I am finding more and more that instead of waiting the extra two seconds it would take to hold the door for my little family of five, people walking into a building would rather just barely open the door, slip in quickly, and let the door close right on us.

The things that require very little effort, such as refilling the jar of water in this song, or things in the world like walking your grocery cart the extra three steps to the correct drop-off spot, smiling as you ring up a customer on your cash register, or keeping your trash until you get home instead of throwing it onto the yard of someone’s home who just happens to live on a relatively busy street (oops...did I make it personal?), are the things that should be easy, yet in a culture that continues to slip further into the void of selfish darkness, are apparently painful, and how dare I ask that of them.

Back to our pump. I found the priming valve, and poured a significant amount of water in there. I flipped on the pump, and waited. And waited. And waited some more. I even went to the water spigot attached to the pump and put my ear next to it. I began to hear something, and finally, what amounted to about four minutes later, the water began to flow. It worked! It took a little effort, but that dingy old pump worked!

In the grand scheme of things, getting our garden pump working may not save us alot of money on water. However, the satisfaction of putting some effort into doing the right thing, and being rewarded for it, brings with it a different kind of value that number amounts can’t convey. What kind of pump are you facing? Prime it, put the effort into it, and let God teach you His lessons.

Just for kicks, here’s the old song. I say my dad "MADE" my listen, but obviously I learned a little something. Thank me, or feel bad for me. Your choice.