THE BLEEDING WOMAN — MARK 5:25-34

THE BACKGROUND

Menstruation, an act of nature which cleans the lining of the uterus and prepares a woman’s body for a possible pregnancy, has long been a taboo subject.  Just seeing the title will make some stop reading today’s blog.  Why?

Ministers will include Mark 5:25-34 in a sermon, but only because they want to get to the part about Jesus waking the girl everyone thought was dead.  Even the disciples discouraged Jesus.  Why is this woman quickly passed over?

Kieran Gandhi, a musician, got her period as she was ready to run the 2015 London Marathon.  She was not prepared and decided to bleed freely and run.  Some praised her for “combatting stigma and drawing attention to the millions of girls and women worldwide who do not have access to menstrual products” and others found her action disgusting.  Why is there a history of menstrual taboos:?

If this is a natural cycle, why is/was it only talked about between women?  Why do women try to hide their periods?  Why do men still think cramps or mood swings are not real?

Why?  Because in the Law, women with a loss of blood were considered unclean.

If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.

If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity.  She shall be unclean.”

     

Leviticus 15:19, 25

THE WOMAN

Can you even imagine the life this woman led?  UNCLEAN!  How would that feel?

Among them was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years.  She had suffered very much from many doctors and had spent all the money she had, but instead of improving, she was getting worse.       Mark 25:25-26

12 years! Think about all you have done in the last twelve years.  Maybe vacations, weddings, additions to your family, moving, changing jobs…..  What if you could not have done any of these?  What if you could not attend the wedding of your child?  Or gone on a vacation?  This woman could only be in a limited area.  Besides she was broke.

Her money disappeared as she tried doctor after doctor trying to find an answer.  Trying to get her life back.  Trying to be able to have contact with other people.

Of all that this bleeding took away from her, physical contact would be the hardest.  Picture her life with no handshakes.  No hugs.  No kisses.  No intimacy.  All that was taken away because she would not make others unclean.  She would not put her burden on them.

And she could see no end to her condition.  She continued to bleed.  1 year.  2 years.  5 years.  12 years.  12 years unclean.  How could she stand anymore?  No more doctors to see anyway.  Not one doctor had given her even a glimmer of hope.  Her bleeding had gotten worse instead of better.  And now her money was gone.

SHE HEARD

Then she heard about a man called Jesus.  They said he could heal.  He could give sight to the blind.  He could drive out demons.  He could calm the storm.  He could raise people from the dead.

Could she believe what she heard?  Could he heal her?  Would he heal her?  I can see her ..

Pacing in a quiet home, alone with what she had heard, the bleeding woman said her thoughts aloud , “I will go to find Jesus.  I know I am not to be in a crowd, but I will not shout or cry out.  I will not draw attention to myself.  I will slowly work my way through the crowd.  If only I can get close enough….  If only I can touch his garment… If I can touch his clothes ……

PART TWO NEXT WEEK

THE BATTLE OF THE THERMOSTAT

Many, many moons ago, when I was younger, I would get cold.  I would say to my loving husband, “I am cold.  I am going to turn the thermostat up.”  At which point, my loving husband would say, “Go put on a sweater.”

I would, being the obedient wife that I am, go put on a sweater.

Now fast forward many, many moons and you will find a complete role reversal.  My dear, loving husband gets cold and says, “Can we please turn the thermostat up? It is so cold you could hang meat in here.”

And, being the obedient wife that I am, I tell him, “Go put on a sweater.  I will turn it back up when I am done working.”

For some reason, my body thermostat got stuck after gall bladder surgery.  I get hot!  When I am cleaning house, I get hot.  When I am working on a project, I get hot.  When I am doing laundry, I get hot.  When I get hot, I kick the air conditioner on high.

When I kick the AC on high, my dear, sweet hubby freezes.  When you see him sitting outside, in the 98-degree temperature, you can be sure he is trying to thaw out.

Are you thinking that maybe, just maybe I am exaggerating?  Let me think.  Still thinking.  Nope.  Not exaggerating.

But I have changed during these many, many moons.  I have learned a whole lot more than how to turn the thermostat down.

• I learned how to be a wife.  Okay, I am still working on that.
• I learned how to cook.  And, no I did not know how to cook when we got married.
• I learned how to change a baby’s diaper.  A cloth diaper that used large safety pins to attach the back to the front so it did not fall off and I cried more than once because I stuck the poor, innocent baby instead of the diaper.
• I learned how to move to a new community.  If you have never moved, you have no idea how hard it is to walk into a church for the first time.
• I learned how to read the Bible.  Actually, reading the Bible is a learning experience each time I open it.

I have learned a lot since I joined the group called “adult.”  For full disclosure, there are parts of childhood I have kept.  I love to blow bubbles.  I have an imagination.  I can still look at a cloud and see an animal.

BUT, as an adult, I have learned that other people are not perfect.  This revelation was a surprise, because I thought everyone had it together except me.  I cannot always have my way.  Sometimes it is better to order a pizza.  Babies will survive the occasional stick with a safety pin.  And no matter how many times I read the Bible; I will find passages that just do not make sense.

Over these many, many moons I have changed and I will keep changing.  I am not the Mary I was and I am not the Mary I will be. 

Oh my.  A new me.  This should be fun.

TRAVELING

I love to travel and recently spent a couple nights by myself prior to seeing my sisters.  When I get to a motel, the first thing I do is take the duvet out of the duvet cover.  Usually hubby helps me, but alone this is no easy task and I feel sorry for the staff that has to stuff the duvet in a cover.  Out it comes because there is no way I can sleep under anything that heavy.  Makes me feel like I am suffocating.  The next thing is to untuck the top sheet.  I hate the sheet tucked in.  How do I stick my feet out when the sheet has them trapped? After that I take half the pillows off the bed.  Does anyone really use that many pillows? Also, I check to make sure someone has not left the alarm set for 3:00 AM.  3:00 AM is way prior to my desire for coffee.

That accomplished, I can unpack what I need for the night.  Bathroom stuff in the bathroom.  Clothes for the next day laid out.  Then it is time to relax.  Jammies on, sitting in bed, a pillow behind my back, and the remote at hand.  I begin to scroll the channels.  How can there be that many channels and not one good thing to watch? Never fear.  I have a book to read and would rather read anyway.  I am ready for uninterrupted reading, which never happens at home, and I hear a herd of elephants coming down the hall.

“Please Lord, if you love me, do not have that family in the next room.”  Now, I love kids and they really do not bother me ….  but the book … uninterrupted reading … Kids running down the hall excitedly telling their parents they want to go swimming.  The parents telling them to stop running … what page was I on again?

Are you wondering where I am going with this?  As often happens, I have no idea.  I know that I love being on new backroads.  You know the roads where you have to get the magnifying glass out to see the road number … if it even has a number.  Bill does the driving on the roads I find and he swears I cannot find a straight road.  (That is on purpose.)  To be on these backroads, we have to leave town and, if we leave town, we have to stay in motels.  Over the years, we have been very fortunate and only a handful of motels have not been the best.  But, I realize what I have written is about motels and the point has nothing to do with motels.

The point has to do with the journey.  The journey has a beginning and an end.  And the journey begins with the first step.

Torah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Harlan.  Abram and Nahor both married.  The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.  Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.  He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.”

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.  Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.  No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”

Genesis parts of 11, 12, and 17

God does not tell each of us to “go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”  What God does tell us to do is take that first step onto the path He has designed specifically for each of us.  Your path may take you to far nations and another’s path may mean they are to stay in one location.  Your path may be to touch lives as a nurse or a teacher or a preacher.  Another’s path may be to lead by example as they work in a factory or drive a truck or farm.  BUT … YOU have to step onto your path.  God told Abram to go.  BUT Abram took action: he went.

Take the step onto God’s path.   You will never regret the journey’s ending.

 

JULY 5TH

We hold these truths …..  We the people of the United States …..

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

We celebrate our freedoms with parades, bands, cookouts, beer, and fireworks.  And on July 5th our lives go back to normal.  We drink the leftover beer.  We eat the leftover hotdogs.  We pick up the sparkler wires in the backyard.  We go back to work.  The sacrifices of others are forgotten, as we take our freedom for granted.

On July 5th through July 4th —- 365 days — I do not take even one of my freedoms for granted.  It is no longer “We hold these truths.”  It is no longer “We the people.”  The “prohibiting the free exercise (of religion) thereof” went out the window when churches were told to close because of Covid and they are now chastised when they take a stand for Biblical beliefs.  The “or abridging the freedom of speech” died when people were fired, blocked on social media, or have their children taken away when they refused to acknowledge anything other than male and female genders.  And it is obvious that no one is “abridging the freedom of the press” to slant the news as they see fit.  The word “peaceably” no longer applies to the assembly of the people.  Assembly can be violent and break laws without any consequences.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  —

WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

My first allegiance is to my God.  My second allegiance is to my family.  My third allegiance is to my country.  I believe in the United States of America and am so blessed to have been born in this country.  A country that mentions “their Creator” in their foundation documents.  BUT the country I believe in and support is quickly disappearing.

The USA is no longer “We hold these truths.” It is no longer “We the people.” The USA has become the country of a few forcing everyone to go along with their beliefs, demands, and delusions.  When we no longer have the freedom to disagree..  When a church can be told to close..  When a child says, “I am a cat.” and they are acknowledged as a cat..  When a man can appear naked because it is a parade..  When the words mother and father have lost their meaning..  And when a baby can be killed one breath away from being born..  the foundation and the values on which this country was founded no longer exist.

I WILL NOT forget the sacrifices made throughout the history of this country.  I WILL NOT forget that “WE THE PEOPLE” sacrificed to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” 

I WILL NOT take any of my freedoms for granted.  I WILL continue to speak out and I pray that others will begin to find their voice before it is too late.  And “too late” is right around the corner.