“Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.” (Jn 4:41-42)
As Blance DuBois opines in A Streetcar Named Desire:”I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Well, in the gospels, we depend on the kindness of strangers: the Samaritan Woman, the Man Born Blind, the Beloved Disciple. The woman in the gospel story is anonymous. After 37 verses we know a LOT about this woman, we know that she is the FIRST evangelist, the first to announce the gospel to her whole village and they come to believe in Jesus, but we don’t even know her name! We all depend on the kindness of strangers, the wonderful anonymous heroes of the gospel.
