THE LITTLE GREEN PUMP

Once there was a very poor village, I forget its name, but I do recollect that it was in the country of Anywhere.  The little village had a general store, which doubled as the Post Office and a blacksmith shop.  There was also an old schoolhouse and a small church building.  It had a community water well with a hand-drawn bucket and a trough for the animals to drink from.  The blacksmith had the job of keeping the trough full.   The Pastors' wife was the school teacher and of course, the Pastor tended to the spiritual needs of the few people that attended the Sunday and Wednesday services.  Farming was the chief industry that kept the dusty village alive, but the land was poor.
The community well was the focal point of activity for the women.  Fetching water was difficult, but it gave them the opportunity to catch up on the latest gossip if there were any and a break from their domestic chores.  The water had a slightly unpleasant odor and taste to it and the people seemed to suffer from a sense of unwellness.  From time to time someone would wonder about the quality of the water, but the well had been there for generations so the thought would pass.  Life just idled along as it always had.
One afternoon before suppertime two large wagons rolled into the village and stopped in front of the Pastors house.  Hearing the noise he came outside and greeted the men.  “What have you here?” he asked.  The men replied that they had been instructed by a certain man of means to drill a well in front of the church.  Of course, the Pastor and his wife heartily approved.  However, there were naysayers in the village that wanted the men to just put a pump on the old well.  Nevertheless, the new well was dug and a fine looking little green pump was mounted on top. The workmen then loaded their equipment back on the wagons and departed as they had arrived.
The Pastor and his wife were the first to taste the water in the new well.  The little green pump was a marvel and the water, oh my, it was wonderful.  It was crystal clear with no odor and absolutely the most refreshing water they had ever tasted.  Because the church building was a bit too far for most people to use for their daily water the few members of the church were the first to use it regularly.  They would bring all their empty containers to Sunday and Wednesday services and fill them.
The Pastors sermons seem to take on new life and the members started noticing changes in their lives.  The sense of unwellness left them and relationships began to improve.  They felt happier and more at peace.  The other villagers noticed the changes and gradually started coming to the little church for water.  Membership grew until they had to add on to the church building.  The feeling of well being spread throughout the village and relationships improved.  The land became more productive and everyone began to prosper. New people moved to town and as the population increased so did church attendance.
As time passed the Pastor and his wife retired and some of the original membership died.  The new people decided they needed a larger building.  The little green pump was in the way of the parking area so they dug a new deeper and larger well with a tall windmill to pump the water.  The little green pump was taken off and the well capped. The area was turned into the needed parking lot and in time the little green pump was forgotten.
A generation passed.  The windmill had been torn down and replaced with a modern electric pump and a filtration system added because the water had a slightly unpleasant odor and taste to it.  The rains had become erratic and farming less profitable causing jobs to become scarce.  The people suffered relationship problems and some complained of an odd unwell feeling.
At first, just an occasional family would leave.  Then gradually more and more people moved to the cities for better job opportunities.  The town could no longer afford to pay the Pastor so he and his family moved away.  For the few families that stayed the corner drugstore was the local gathering place.  As time passed people talked about the old days and complained about how all the people were attracted to the big cities.  Some would occasionally wonder about the quality of the water, but that would soon pass.  In the end, they decided as how the economic collapse of their town was all part of the natural cycle of life.   And so their lives continued to idle along as it always had.

              Marshall Kimbrough-Warren