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.

 

 $10,000 PYRAMID

The title of this blog tells my age.  I think it is now the $100,000 Pyramid.

Our Sunday School class is studying the Book of Esther.  If you like a good mystery, this is the book for you.  Who done it?  Secrets!  Lies and hate.  This book has it all.  How will it end?  Will the good Queen save the day?

We were ready to begin chapter four.  The lesson was prepared.  I had answered the questions and had thrown in a few extra.  Hey, I don’t want the class to be too easy.  Hubby and I were headed to church when, WHAM!  An idea on how to start the class:  A game show.  It is a good thing I was not driving.  I would have had to pull over.  When an idea hits ……

Using the $10,000 or $100,000 Pyramid as the game show of choice, I started hitting the keys.  The category:  THINGS THEY THINK.

I hate the Jews

I hate Mordecai

The King has no idea

This ring gives me power

(Answer 1)

I didn’t think he would go this far

He is evil

Should I have bowed

This is my fault

Will Esther help

(Answer 2)

Is this why I never told the king I was Jewish

Mordecai is asking a lot

Is this why I am the Queen

If I die, I die

(Answer 3)

You looked on down to the answers didn’t you?  Anyway, it was a fun way to start and generated a discussion on what would they have been thinking and feeling.

The Book of Esther is named after , duh, Esther.  A young, beautiful orphan.  Orphan… that immediately tells you she has suffered the loss of her parents and we learned she was raised by her cousin, Mordecai.  After Queen Vashti disappeared from the scene, the king got a bit lonely.  He wanted a Queen, so a search was made for a replacement.  There was no long list of qualifications.  The candidate had to be beautiful and a virgin.  Young Esther fit the bill and was taken to the palace.  That gives you the cliff notes for how the book begins.  You can read to find out the rest of the story.

The point of this week’s blog is that Esther had no idea what was going to happen.  Would she become queen?  Why had Mordecai told her not to tell anyone that she was Jewish?  And why was Haman so hateful?  Esther had no idea, but she trusted Mordecai and took his advice.  

She trusted.  Part of the class discussion has been on who to trust and why do we trust them?  Is it their reputation for honesty?  Is it a person we respect?  If so, why do we respect that person?  If you are in need of advice, where do you turn?  To the town gossip?  To someone who will hold your conversation private?  Do you take their advice?

The Book of Esther is a mystery with turns and twists in the plot.  BUT it is also a story of trust.  It is a short book.  Won’t take you long and it is so much more than the story of a beautiful queen which you heard in Sunday School all those years ago.  

ANSWERS:

1 — THINGS HAMAN THINKS

2 — THINGS MORDECAI THINKS

3 — THINGS ESTHER THINKS

 SUMMER

 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.”  And it was so.  

     Genesis 1:14-15

Are there words that make images pop into your mind?  Summer does that for me.  I remember  --- School’s out and summer begins.  We were free!!  Free to wonder around town.  We either walked or rode our bikes. 

The school yard (where I went the first four years) was only one block away.  There was a baseball diamond, of sorts, and we played pickup games.  I never was a good pitcher, but I could whack a ball.  As a matter of fact, I hit one that went through one of the school windows.  That was the end of playing ball there.

The swimming pool was 23 blocks away.  Yes, it was!  I looked up my home town and counted the blocks.  Usually there was my sister(s), neighbor kids, and me, walking barefoot and carrying our towel, 23 blocks to go to the pool.  It was a really unique pool and to swim cost a whopping 25¢.  It sure did cool us down.  Until we had to walk those 23 blocks back home.

My dad thought I would never learn to ride a bike, but I did finally get rid of the training wheels.  Once that happened, every corner of town was fair game.  We would ride across town to play Monopoly.  Or to sit under a tree and talk.  Or swoon over the latest movie star. 

My mother figured a way to enjoy her summer.  There were four of us kids and I do not think we were ever home at the same time.  We rotated spending a week with grandma and then started through the aunts and uncles.  By the time we returned home, mom would ship us off to see grandma again. 

And that is where the best memories are from.  There was no telephone, except the one on the wall that rang longs and shorts and we were not allowed to use it.  It was a party line and grandma said she didn’t want us listening to those gossips.  There was no television, but we didn’t have one at home either, so that was no biggie.  There were the best sugar cookies ever and a toaster where you had to open the sides and turn the bread to toast the other side.  Strange.  There was a door that folded in the middle and a room we were never to enter.  Apparently, the room was over the cistern or something and if we fell through the floor we would drown and die.  Yes, every grandchild went in that room at some time or other.  It had really neat old stuff.

There was only one problem with going to grandma’s and various aunts and uncles.  They all had out-houses!  Enough said.

What image do I see today when I think of summer?  AIR CONDITIONING!!

 TIME

Time -  Time is such a precious gift.  How do we use our time and who is in control of our time?

Before I retired, my bosses were in control of much of my time.  I had no control of when auctions were scheduled.  I also worked for Bill.    Farm reports had to be done.  Appraisals had to be done.  I worked when my bosses told me to work.  

Family uses a big chunk of our time.  Being a spouse takes time.  We had two children and, believe me, they controlled a very large amount of my time.  For some unknown reason, they expected to be fed and taken care of:  baths, play time, nap time, little league games and band concerts.  Not to mention clean clothes.  And the  late night use of my time because, as I was tucking them in bed, they remembered they needed cookies for school the next day.  

Often, others control so much of our time, there is no time left for ourselves.  Time that is required — work and family — devours the seconds, minutes, and hours of our day until the only time we have to read is while we are waiting for band practice to get out.

Time -  Time is such a precious gift.  How do we use our time and who is in control of our time?

Yes, work consumes our time.  That is not a bad thing unless it robs us of time for family.

Yes, family consumes our time.  That is not a bad thing unless it robs us of time for friends.

Yes, friends consume our time.  That is not a bad thing unless it robs us of time to help others by volunteering.

Yes, volunteering consumes our time.  That is not a bad thing unless it robs us of time to …..

This line of reasoning can go on and on but I hope it will get you to thinking about how you use your time.   Time is a precious gift.  Use it wisely.

PS. I did not forget to put in time for prayer and worship.  I hope you picked up on how easily our time slips away and we use the excuse, “I didn’t have time to read this week’s Sunday School lesson or attend worship service or help at VBS or even pray.  I didn’t have time for God.”  Time is precious.  Do you use it wisely?

 D-DAY

D-Day — 80 years later.  We watched parts of the D-Day service and other programs.  One survivor made the statement, “All were willing to stand up.  Not all came back.”  Another said, “I am not a hero.  I did my job.”

In my mind they were all heroes.  There are so many heroes during war.  There are the ones who step up, even if they were too young.  Survivors told about young men, who lied about their age, just to join the Army or the Navy….  They stood up.

Survivors told about the person who was first to step into the water.  They were often a part of those who did not come back.  They stood up.

Survivors … isn’t that a beautiful word?  Some of those survivors sat in front of 25 heads of state and 4,500 spectators.  Approximately 150-200 American survivors attended the ceremonies, while survivors, from other countries, attended ceremonies in different locations.  Survivors… isn’t that a beautiful word?

But many did not survive.  For those back home, the sight of military men walking toward their door, was the beginning of a journey they did not want to take.  But the parents, spouses, children, family, and friends stood up. They were also heroes.

Allied troops, on this day, stood up and turned the war around.  

They went on to defeat the hate and brutality of the Nazi army.  They fought.  Way too many died.  But isn’t the word survivors a beautiful word?

D-Day — 80 years ago — They stood up.  They are heroes.

Thank you and may I have even a small portion of the courage it took, on that day, to step into the water and face a very strong enemy.  I humbly say, “Thank you.”

 I LOVE

I love storms.  I am not naive.  I have seen the weather map.  Many places are having severe storms.  Hail the size of baseballs.  Tornadoes and too much rain.  I realize storms can be devastating and can change lives in an instant.  Those are not the storms I am talking about.  

I am talking about a good, ole summer storm.   One you can feel in your bones.  The air changes slowly.  You know it is time to bring the clothes in off the line.  (You have to be old to understand that activity.) Mothers call their kids home.  (This does not require the use of a phone.  Again, being over 64 helps you understand this concept.  This requires stepping out the back door and yelling, in full mother voice, “Get your butts home and get them home now.”)

Even when I was only knee high to a grasshopper, I loved storms.  It had to rain really hard for this one corner, on our porch, to get wet.  And that is where you would find me during a storm.  I would wrap up in a blanket, curl up in the corner, and listen to the thunder and watch the lightening.  And after the storm!   The world looked different.  The sky would be this amazing shade of blue.  The wet leaves looked a new shade of green.  Everything looked so clean.  The world even smelled different.  I love storms.

I love ice cream. I will eat the kind that comes in a box, but I love homemade ice cream.  One of my uncles made the best ice cream ever.  It helped that there was a cow close at hand (Pun!) to make a contribution to the cause.  Fresh eggs, vanilla, and sugar.  Pour into canister.  Add ice, salt and then crank.  The secret is in the salt and cranking.  There has to be enough salt to melt the ice and cranking was a true art form.  The professional (aka my uncle) knew the exact speed to turn the handle.  Too fast or too slow and the ice cream did not set up right.  Part of the experience is the anticipation.  When will it be done?  Can we eat it right away or do we have to wait?  Who gets to lick the paddle.  I love ice cream.

I love God.  I look around and see the poppies - red and orangish flowers, paper thin, that remind me of the poppies along our driveway when I was growing up.  I feel the gentle breeze and it is like a kiss from heaven and reminds me of a babies breath as they nap on my shoulder.  I feel the warmth of the sun and am reminded how wonderful a fireplace feels on a cold winter’s night.  I hear the ocean and am reminded of standing on a beach, taking deep breaths, and relaxing with each wave.  I have wiggled my toes in mud, grass, creeks, and, not on purpose, those brown clumps in the cow pasture.  (That is what I get for going barefoot.) And to think God gave me all of this.  How could I not love Him?

What do you love?  Storms?  Ice Cream?  Good books?  Traveling?  Quiet days at home?  

Now what really amazes me is that the world God spoke into existence has something special for each of us.  And isn’t that just something?  It means each one of us is so loved by God that he created summer storms for a little girl sitting in a corner of a porch.  He created flowers for the person with a love of roses, geraniums, and poppies.  He created the mountains to be climbed by those with a spirit of adventure.  

Now what really amazes me is that the world God spoke into existence has something special for each of us.  What did God create just for you?