The Tale of Blood
Okay, this is the part when you can say “Argh”
Today’s article is about a story that you may or may not have heard before, but it requires that we talk about something most people find uncomfortable. In this month’s article, I talk about blood and I use some bloody descriptions. If your first thought when I mentioned blood was “Argh!”, this article is probably not for you. This is where you stop reading and scroll back to TikTok for interesting Reddit stories. The ones with subway surfers in the background.
If you stayed and decided to read the story, whew! Thank God! For a minute there, I thought I was going to talk to myself till the very end. I am glad you stayed. Have you heard the bible story about the woman Jesus healed? Honestly, Jesus healed so many women during his lifetime and the people in his time must have lost count. I should probably mention that I am a struggling Christian so my perspective on bible stories will obviously raise a few eyebrows but there is just something so intriguing about this story. The bible story about the woman with the issue of blood.
You see, every month I go through the most uncomfortable, painful, and dreadful time while on my period. Usually, you can tell that something is off if you see or meet me during this period. There’s a sensation of vulnerability, subtle unease, and emotional amplification around me. I try to hide it well, but sometimes I get so sad and uncomfortable that I start counting the number of days till this whole ordeal is over. Other times, I feel like pausing everything around me for a few days until it is all over.
For women, during this period, you are not only losing blood, but you get nauseous, experience painful abdominal cramps, get mood swings, and some women even get bedridden. You even feel like the world is about to end because of the emotions you are going through. Most women have experienced this throughout their lifetime so they learn to adapt and get through their day-to-day life without complaining about it, but it really is a terrible time to be a woman. I wonder how this woman in the bible lived with this condition for 12 years! I cannot say I know what she felt and how she lived her life, but I will try to imagine what her life was and describe it in relatable terms.
Those days, there were no sanitary towels or even tampons that you could dispose of after use, so women had to wash their undergarments. This woman washed her bloody undergarments every day for 12 years! (This is the part when you are supposed to say “Argh!” but we are still talking about her ordeal so you probably wait for when I give the cue.) This same woman was not supposed to be out in public or even go to the temple for prayers. When and how was she supposed to tell God about her condition and pray for healing? Research even mentions that women during those days would go for purification and offer sacrifices after their periods. Imagine thinking that your period has ended so you go for purification and even offer a lamb for sacrifice out of your flock of 10 sheep and before the prayer is completed, your period starts again! (Okay this is the part when you can say “Argh”) This woman was probably not married or in a “relationship” because she was considered ritually unclean. Every man who got to know of her condition must have shunned her and refused to marry her. I cannot begin to think about the rejection she must have received in those 12 years.
Receiving medical care is so expensive today so it must have been worse during those times because there was no advanced tech. If the doctors in her time charged the consultation fees the doctors charge us today, this woman was probably poor because she visited all the doctors in her land but was never healed. She must have taken a life’s worth of herbal remedies! Imagine her waking up one morning and hearing that a man who could heal all diseases was in town. If I were her, I probably would not have heard the news because I would be home in my bed having a pity party. In my view, this man was probably just like the other doctors I had already seen so I would not want to waste more money on a situation I knew was never going to get better. Thank God she was not like me and was a woman who never gave up!
I have so many questions about this woman but my admiration for her courage and tenacity stands out above all because she was a woman who did not give up in her pain. She went out among the large crowds where she should not have been in the first place because of the religious laws, where Jesus could not even hear her voice amidst all the noise. She just thought that only if she could touch the hem of his garment, she would be well. She did not think about her past experiences while seeking healing, she did not complain about the crowd, and she did not even get discouraged by her inability to talk directly with Jesus. She just wanted to touch him without his knowledge because she had already come too far to go back without at least doing something. What faith!
If we all had the kind of faith and tenacity she had in her suffering, we would be able to go through difficulties and through life with hope and courage. Life as we know it has never been smooth or even fair. One minute you think you got everything together and the next, the together got you. If we had her faith, we would keep fighting to get to another day, we would not hide our faces or freeze when life gets tough. We would try another solution, we would try another remedy, we would try one more time. We would try it with this new man in town. We would try it one more time with Jesus! I cannot narrate to you the number of times I have found comfort in God. I am not perfect, but I find that running to Him even when we are not on the best terms brings me comfort and peace. Sometimes, I know deep in my heart that the situation might not change but I shamelessly run to him regardless of the fact that we have not spoken in months. If asked today, I think I know why that woman wanted to touch the hem of his garments. She needed relief. She wanted to be happy. She wanted to live normally like everyone else.
Sometimes, we want the pain to stop, we just want to be happy like everyone else, we need relief from the constant problems and never-ending responsibilities but I implore you to always remember that whatever you are experiencing this season, get out of your house and try life one more time but this time, try it with Jesus. He comes highly recommended.
