The Treacle Well

I went back to England a couple of years ago with my mother-in-law on an Elder Hostel tour. It was about World Religions and was fascinating, but that's another blog post! Anyhow we spent a week in Oxford and I saw some wonderful things that related to some of my favourite authors: CS Lewis, Tolkien, JR Rowling, and also Lewis Carroll. I'd always found the Alice books a tad strange, but apparently, Charles Dodgson (Carroll's real name) was a Math tutor at Christ Church College and so I learnt quite a bit about him while we were there.

Do you remember the Mad Hatter's Tea Party? I think, actually, that most of what I remember is from the Disney version rather than the original. Well, the Dormouse, I think, talks about a 'treacle well' between naps. In England, treacle is a refined sugar syrup, like corn syrup but nicer, and Treacle Tart is a popular dessert. So, I always thought the idea of a 'treacle well' was somewhat ludicrous, but it seemed to fit in perfectly with the general madness of the tea party.

During our stay in Oxford we got to see the actual treacle well Dodgson was talking about! It turns out that 'treacle' is an Anglo-Saxon word for 'cure-all', and as folks had been cured by water from this well, it had always been referred to as the 'treacle well'. The picture heading this blog is the well itself which is outside St. Margaret's, a tiny church (with no electricity) in a village just outside Oxford. And the photo of a walled garden with a delightful wooden door that serves as the background to this blog, is the walled garden that the real Alice played in by herself, overlooked by the library where Dodgson spent a lot of his time.

Wells and water have been important throughout the history of humankind, so I can understand why ancient Celts, and then Christian folks would want to show their appreciation for a pure source of this life-giving liquid. It's something I took for granted until I moved to Arizona! I take a lot of things for granted, my family and friends, my church, my easy access to books, knowledge, and art, my freedoms to worship, work and vote. So I am trying to live more intentionally now, to thank God for everything, even the stuff that I wouldn't want anyone else to go through - it has made me who I am. And with God's help I can use every experience of my life to reflect Him, and share with someone else every blessing He has given me. I am going to 'dress' the well of life that God has given me as an act of Thanksgiving.