PoP - Carry the Water

A few months ago, I traveled with some cousins to the funeral for our uncle. While the circumstances of our trip were not pleasant, the tyme together was enjoyable. One cousin brought two of her children along for the trip. As we traveled up the interstate, we chatted about this and that, often reminiscing of our childhood and our usually harmless, but often comical antics. At one point on our journey, we passed a sign that read, “Molly Pitcher Highway”. The sign sparked a conversation and prompted the four adults in the vehicle to admit we knew little, if anything, about Molly Pitcher. It turned out, however, that my cousin’s son had recently read about and did a report on Molly Pitcher. His mother encouraged him to tell us what he learned.

He informed us that Molly Pitcher helped during The Revolutionary War by carry water to soldiers. We began contemplating the circumstances of the event and asked some qualifying questions. I mean really, the lady has a highway named after her, so you would think her contribution was substantial. After a few minutes, my cousin’s son said, “If you think about, all she did was carry water to people”. I have to admit, his comment, though he didn’t mean for it to, hit me hard. He is a good kid and was just being a preteen about life, but his comment got me thinking about actions and how they are viewed.

I did a little more research on Molly Pitcher. It turns out that Molly Pitcher is a fictitious name given to a woman named Mary Hays who, as legend has it, carried water to the soldiers in her husband’s artillery unit during the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but when I am working hard, a glass of water is greatly appreciated and I’m sure it was so for those soldiers. My research however, led me to the rest of the story that my cousin’s son did not convey. You see, the water was not just a refreshment for the soldiers, it was also used to cool the canons and keep them from overheating. Again, I don’t know about anyone else, but it seems to me that keeping canons from overheating would be a rather important detail during a battle. As I read on in the Encyclopedia Britannica biography of Mary Hays (Molly Pitcher) I learned that her husband was wounded and Mary Molly finished fighting the battle in his stead, a battle that eventually resulted in a victory for the Revolutionists.

After reading the actual biography of Molly Pitcher, I compared it to the comment of my cousin’s preteen son and I had a “Power of Perspective” moment. I began looking at myself and how I view the actions of others. Am I prone to think, “all she did was carry water” or am I able to see the refreshment of the water, the cooling of the canons and the action of pitching in to help when others fall? (Perhaps the latter is the real reason for the nickname Molly Pitcher.)

The truth is, it’s easy to overlook the actions of others or fail to see the heart and sacrifice in them. As humans, we tend to compare actions and we are often impressed by the outlandish and obvious actions of some. Like we credit those who play in the national championship basketball game, but we fail to recognize the players on the bench who helped refine skills during practice. To my cousin’s son, perhaps the soldiers were the real heroes because he could visualize the results of their actions, but the result of the battle would not have been the same without the efforts of the one who carried the water.

There’s an account in the book of Mark where Jesus watched the crowd put money into the temple offering. Some threw in large amounts, but a widow put in two small coins which were worth very little. While many were likely impressed by the large amounts, Jesus told his disciples that the widow put more into the treasury than all the others because the others gave out of their wealth, but the widow gave out of her poverty and put in everything she had to live on.

Isn’t it a blessing to know that that is the perspective Jesus has? When the world overlooks them, Jesus notices the players on the bench, the ones who carry the water and the ones who put in everything they have. And even better than noticing them, He appreciates their efforts; efforts done from the heart.

In tyme, I know the perspective of my cousin’s son will change. He will be able to see beyond the action and he will notice the effort and heart behind it. For now, though, I find myself glad for his current perspective because it challenged me to evaluate my own. It made me want to be one who carries the water and appreciate all the water carriers around me. And the next tyme I am tempted to think, “all she did was carry water” I will reevaluate and say, “look at all the water she carried”! Ah, The Power of Perspective!