Sitting Down When Standing Would Be Easier
Updated: Sep 7
“Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.”John 4:6
You could stay on your feet. The visit would be shorter. Leaving would be easier.
Instead you sit. The whole meeting changes.
Jesus sat with people. At the well he sat down because he was tired. Then a conversation began that would not have happened in the same way if he had only stood and moved on. The choice to sit mattered as much as the words that came after.
Sitting down when standing would be easier is a quiet decision to stay a little longer than convenience wants. You come down to the same level as the person in the chair or in the bed. That is already a kind of respect.
You do not have to stay for hours. You do not have to fill the time with talk.
At Mass we sit as well as stand. Some prayer is only staying. Christ did not remain above us. He came down to where we are. A visitor can do a small version of that by taking the chair.
Sit if you can. That simple choice is already a mercy.