Issue

WOMAN WITH AN ISSUE OF BLOOD 

[Mark 5 account]

And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

For obvious personal reasons I love this story. I, who cycled through 12 years before getting pregnant, can relate to this poor woman who spent all she had with doctors and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. Her predicament brings back every receipt, single stripe, wasted month, and raw emotion that brought me to my knees but I, too, reached in faith from the dust.

This woman touched the hem of Christ’s robe and was instantly healed from the inside out. She stretched and caught a miracle. I, too, was eventually healed from the inside out by an ultrasound print I stuck on the fridge like an Olympic gold medal but only after years of clutching the Savior’s robe as I bled. Those years of constancy, of being faithful and true every 28 days, were full of issues.

WOMAN WITH AN ISSUE OF BLOOD. Sometimes I like to omit the “of blood” and simply read it as WOMAN WITH AN ISSUE. Who among us doesn’t have issues? Ugly, lasting, deep issues? Pains so private they can only be fixed from the inside out because we’d never let them surface anyway? I have those issues.

So many of us are desperate. For those of us who have the faith to be healed, who sprint to town and lurch through the crowd, who shadow the Man in the Robe and summon everything we’ve got and reach—but remain the same—I feel you. Yet I am here to testify there are still miracles when nothing changes. Sometimes the miracle isn’t that your issue dries up; the miracle is that you’re holding the Savior’s robe. There is peace in that kind of proximity. Be still, and know that I am God.

I think it’s possible, while casting a burden at His feet, to accidentally brush His hem after the release. Perhaps letting go of an issue is another way to reach in faith. Letting go frees up a hand that can now seize solace, right?

Is it a coincidence that after she tells the Savior all the truth she is whole of her plague? I’ve certainly felt better after unbottling and admitting all my issues to the Wonderful Counsellor. Is an honest, heartfelt prayer all it takes at times?

Is it the hem or the reach that makes the difference? Which is greater: being healed and changed in an instant, or being healed when nothing changes? Either way, the Savior possesses the power to do both and reaches our reaching.

I remain confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

Photo quote from Emma Lou Thayne's "Where Can I Turn For Peace"

Cindy Bean's link; this print is on her Etsy site (It's a long smiracle story how I got this print but Bonnie Mortensen is to blame. Cindy roamed the halls of the Brimhall the same time I did. She has evolved into quite the artist. I think this print is perfection. The way she portrayed the issue of blood, the negative space, the direction of the composition. So good. So, so good.)

Other "Issues" art: Kate Lee, James C. Christensen (I'm gaga for any depiction of this story.)