Stops Along the Way

Luke 8: 42b – 45

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years , but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

Last Thursday, at Camp Tecumseh, I watched a hummingbird and some butterfly’s in the bushes by the Caretakers house. Stitching together flowers in a web of flight.

Tiny evangelists, moving from blossom to blossom, seeking in each stop, life’s sweetness. Leaving behind on each blossom, bits of its’ own journeys. Being blessed and blessing in return.

Can I move with such concern on the stops along the journey of my days? Taking as well as giving.

Oh Lord, the gardens of the city are not filled with soft flowers and bright sunshine,
They are dark with despair and hardened with rage,
The fruit at the heart of life is poisoned, deformed, bitter.
The flowers are artificial, ….plastic,
Faded in the harsh light of their daily reality,
Colorless and lifeless as the pallor of their lives,

I am slow to drink from the stops I make,
The poison is often virulent that fills my ears and absorbs into my heart.
Yet taking some of it away is the task of the wounded healer
Sucking the poison from the wound, negates the serpents bite.

Can mere words, bring wellness as well as wounding?
Can they bring hope as well as hurt?
Can I offer Presence as well as promises?

Father, Give me Your Word and Your Presence
They are Life-Words, and Empowering Presence!
Otherwise, I am powerless to bring blessings that will last
And changes that are deeper than the surface.

Clothe me with your robes, that desperate hands reaching out, may touch You and not just me!