Scripture: Mark 5:24b-34
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well." Immediately her hemorrhage stopped ; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?'" He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
Reflection Questions:
Do you or anyone you know suffer from long-term illness? Do you yearn for peace and renewal from an ongoing ailment? What would you be willing to do in exchange for healing? Where is your faith in all of the turmoil, confusion, and uncertainty?
Five-minute Story:
I apologize beforehand if the following makes you uncomfortable. At times what I will be describing is just plain gross and crude. It is a story of a personal struggle that for almost twenty years has been a part of my rocky journey.
It started when I was in my early thirties. Given my age and gender, I should not have bleeding issues when going to the bathroom. At first, I denied that anything was wrong. I was able to rationalize it; “it was probably something I ate.” However, the bleeding persisted and became worse. Something was dreadfully wrong. My imagination went to a dark place quickly.
Around this time, Katie and I purchased our first camper. It was a pop-up, and we were so excited to have it. We were going to take it and travel the country with our two small boys. Camping was something we all enjoyed, and this was our ticket to many years of enjoyment.
Our first jaunt was to a campground in the Poconos. It was about an hour and a half away from our home; we were living in New Jersey at the time. We booked two nights - just the perfect length of time for an inaugural trip. With all our gear aboard and plenty of snacks, we set out.
When we made it to the campground, I carefully made the wide swing off the main road. Slowly but surely, I was getting the hang of trailering a camper. It wasn’t as hard as I worried. Pulling into our destination, I remember seeing the beautiful campground sign. It was going to be the perfect place for outing number one.
My confidence was soon lost, however, as I drove through the campground in search of our site. Never judge a place a by the sign out front. Many of the sites housed old, beat-up, broken down units that were full-time residences. Though it was mid-morning, people were out drinking beer and changing their oil. There was trash and dogs running everywhere. All illusions of a pristine camping environment became shattered within minutes. This was a trailer park.
To the tune of someone else's “heavy metal” radio blasting in my ear, I pulled into our spot. After turning off the truck engine, we debated whether we should stay. After some consideration, we came to the conclusion - might as well stay, how bad could it be?
As it turned out, it wasn’t as bad as we feared. Our camp neighbors turned out to be okay and kept to themselves. The worse thing was the Porta-John. Since this was the first private campground at which we stayed, I didn’t know that most have beautiful bathrooms with indoor plumbing. This one did not.
After we did a little sightseeing at local attractions, we came back to our “home away from home.” It was then that the bleeding issues started to wreak havoc. Back and forth I went from our camper to the Porta-John. Each time, it seemed like I was going to bleed out. Accompanying the unwelcome blood was a sharp pain in my stomach. Sitting in the smelly and poorly maintained outhouse, I was worried beyond worry.
What was happening to my body? Did I have some horrible condition that would lead to an early death? What about my young family? Who would take the boys camping? What would Katie do? Foreboding questions swirled around me and I was afraid.
When you fear, fear takes over and causes your entire being to shut down. I sat there in my deepest fears until the bleeding stopped. Alone. I didn’t want to let in anyone else.
P.s. Shortly after this episode, my doctor sent me for a barrage of tests. Later on in the series, I will share a story about my first colonoscopy, which identified the problem - ulcerative colitis.