Angela Johnson’s depiction of the woman with an issue of blood. Photo by Seth Adam Smith. 

The healing along the way:

Jairus’ daughter and the unnamed woman with the issue of blood

Matthew 9:18-26
Mark 5:22-43
Luke 8:41-56

Give your weakness to one who helps.
Crying out loud and weeping are great resources.
A nursing mother, all she does is wait to hear her child.
Just a little beginning-whimper, and she’s there.
God created the child, that is, your wanting,
so that it might cry out, so that milk might come.
Cry out!
Don’t be stolid and silent with your pain.
Lament! And let the milk of loving flow into you.
–Rumi, excerpt from Cry Out in Your Weakness as found in The Essential Rumi

The Flow of Blood by Steve Garnaas-Holmes
The sacred blood that flowed twelve perfect years
was never stanched— the healing was not such.
Drawn by the Heart most wounded, salved in tears,
still flowing and too sacred to be touched
she surged through calloused throngs; and stained his cloak
and heart with dark, unclotted faith, her true
blood sacrifice, her tithe of pain, that spoke
of life within her flowing, flowing through.
Heart pierced, he blessed his new blood-sister’s flow;
they both the holy mystery revealed
of wounds blood-sanctified, in which we know
that life is uncontained, and we are healed.
The cross thus washed in double flow of blood,
the curse thus hemorrhaged, life renewed its tide,
a welling up, a sea released, a flood
of life her tear-stained face could never hide.

Come, Savior Come
ONE:
Compassionate Christ,
you draw near
to those the world labels unclean, lost causes, and beyond hope.
There is always hope with you.
Come again to all who are desperate and despairing.

ALL:
Come with answers and healing.
Come with salvation and strength.
Come, Savior come.

ONE:
Come again to all who are exploited and abused.

ALL:
Come with freedom and sanctuary.
Come with power and new life.
Come, Savior come.

ONE:
Come again to all who are unseen and unloved.

ALL:
Come with companionship and strength.
Come with empowerment and faith.
Come, Savior come.

ONE:
You are invited to name persons, institutions, and situations in need of Christ’s healing and hope.

The leader allows time for the naming.

ONE:
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

ALL:
Amen.

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For more information on today’s featured artist, Angela Johnson, click here
For more information Seth Adam Smith, click here

For another devotion entitled Reaching for Healing, based on this story, click here

Come, Savior Come © 2012 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution. Contact Lisa for posting and publication considerations.

For more information on the use of the quotes, scripture translation, art and this resource in other settings, please refer to the copyright information page.