When my oldest child was about five or six years old, he received a “Where’s Waldo” book. It was a favorite in our house for quite a while as we were determined to find Waldo as he was placed against a backdrop of busy scenes. Even though he was in plain sight he was easy to overlook. That’s how I am. I tend to not see the things that are at times right in front of me. This is especially true when it comes to being attentive to the needs of people. Being more sensitive and thoughtful is an area that I am constantly trying to improve on. In my quest for the “next thing” I am not very mindful of the things, and people that are right in front of me. There are two stories I would like to share in this two-part post. The first has to do with a story from Scripture and the other about my favorite celebrity.
For twelve years the woman had tried everything to cure her incessant bleeding. Without money and hope she followed the crowd to see Jesus. Surely, she had heard about his ability to heal and had gone out of her way to see for herself if the rumors were true. In the midst of the bustling crowd, she sees him, and in desperation reaches out. For some reason this woman in need is often depicted in paintings as being on the ground reaching towards Jesus. Perhaps she is portrayed that way for dramatic effect. In her reaching out to Jesus she displays a vulnerability and eagerness to try anything to escape her current situation. She is throwing caution to the wind and as author Jodi Picoult says,
“The desperate usually succeed because they have nothing to lose”.
Local doctors couldn’t help her, and at this point in her life she had nothing to lose and her health and well-being to gain. You would understand if she had shown up as a wild woman who frantically places herself before Jesus face to face; grabbing his shoulders and begging for healing. But perhaps, because of the embarrassment of her condition and understanding the cultural norms at the time, that would have been too much. So instead she takes a subtler approach and simply touches the fringe of his cloak. After years of being unnoticed, chastised and overlooked, and not wanting to bring attention to her very personal situation, Matthew records:
“She said to herself, “If only I touch His cloak, I will be healed.”
How many times was this woman passed by? How many times did her condition become such a part of her identity that the people closest to her just played it off or ignored her? I often wonder if her condition kept her confined to her home? Over time did she become a phantom that people in the outside world caught the rare glimpses of? How did all of this play on her psyche? Her family? Her relationship with God? Was she ever visited by others? Did anyone care or were people too busy and she was simply overlooked?
The condition that she tried to keep hidden, ultimately hid her. How many people in our lives are suffering a similar fate? Their condition keeps them from the outside world, and they become separated from the love of others because they think that they are unlovable?
The morning the bleeding woman woke up, her prayer, her sign was to be healed by Jesus’ cloak. In desperation, on this day, she knew something had to change. She just couldn’t continue unless God made a way. Apparently, it was the gravity of her situation and the faith in her heart that caused Jesus to stop everything and ask those closest to him who had touched him. Wherever Jesus went he drew crowds of people. People that were probably always reaching out for him; touching him. And this scene was no different. With a throng of people around him it was impossible to know who touched him. But Jesus recognized that there was something different about her touch; something in the desperation of her need that caused him to take notice. Healing power had gone out from him and I imagine as Jesus stops, almost in slow motion he begins looking at the dozens of faces that were surrounding him; looking for the one who touched him. And finally, his eyes meet hers.
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
As the woman discovered, there is something to humbling ourselves and admitting our need for God that draws his attention. In faith she was healed and her life changed dramatically as she was no longer held hostage by what afflicted her body.
With us still at the beginning of the New Year one of the things that I will improve on is being more attentive to those who are suffering in silence.