Crowd

Linking up with Five Minute Friday.

Trying something a little different today...

GO

The talk was he was here.
In town.
Nearby.
Her last hope.
Her only hope.
Now or never.
Now is always the best time for faith.

She readied herself to meet the public.
The ones who had scorned her.
Shunned her.
The ones who held her responsible for what her body chose to do.
It's not to say she really blamed them.
Even 12 years ago she would have passed the same harsh judgment on others.
Today she knew better.

One deep breath and she stepped outside the threshold of her safety net.
Her home had been her haven.
Lonely.
Bare.
But hers.
And the space to which she withdrew when the crowds rejected her.

But not today.
The crowds would not keep her back.
Healing was passing through town
and she would be there.

She recited scriptures in her mind
as she rubbed shoulders with those who had disctanced themselves.
She loved the words of God.
The words that promised healing.
Wholeness.

Suddenly the motion stopped.
Chattering increased.
She was pushed and tossed with the wave of bodies as they all strained to see.
It was maddening. This crowd.
The wall that separated her from freedom.
And she would not relent.

Pushing.
Shoving.
Gasping.
Hoping.
Believing.
Falling.
Reaching.
Touching.

Just the hem.
It was enough.
The crowd would not keep her from him.

And in the dust she lay.
Afraid but well.
Unsure but renewed.
And Healing turned and spoke.
And his words shocked the disciples,
and humbled the crowd
to which this daughter was now restored.

(See Matthew 5:24b - 34.)

STOP


So in all fairness, this post took 9 minutes to write, not 5.