In Mark 5 Jesus is asked to heal the 12-year-old daughter of a prominent Jewish leader. The journey towards the leader’s home is interrupted by an invisible woman who has bled dry in the 12-year search for a cure for her haemorrhaging. When Jesus resumes his journey to the 12-year-old girl we find that she has died.

The story follows the usual a-b-a sandwich technique used by the writers of Mark’s Gospel: the story of the girl is intercalated by the story of the woman haemorrhaging blood. What unites the story of the woman being healed of her haemorrhaging with the story of the sick daughter is the number 12. The repeated use of the symbol 12 requires that the woman and the girl are the interpretative lens for each other’s story.

The two stories in Mark 5 are experiences of healing. The symbol 12 elevates the meaning of these stories further. 12 symbolises Israel. The 12-year-old daughter of the Jewish leader is in a coma. Her coma symbolises that the faith of the Israelites is dead, it has lost all life and its children are “dead”. By following the teachings of the prophets lived out in the sermons and lifestyle of Jesus the faith of Israel can be resurrected just as the girl is resurrected. The woman haemorrhaging symbolises how the people of the land are bled dry by Temple and Roman authority. The most vulnerable in society, the girl child and the elderly sick woman without a male protector, experience the worst effects of a systemic abuse.

The healing is subversive. While the 12-year-old daughter of a Jewish leader is clearly a daughter of Israel, Jesus uses the term daughter to address the older woman. The reason this is so subversive is that the woman bleeding for 12 years is an invisible outsider, a poverty stricken, ill woman excluded from Israel, excluded from religion, excluded from society, excluded from family and thought to be excluded from God. Moreover, she is told that her faith has healed her; her faith is juxtaposed with the disciples’ lack of faith in Mark 4. The scandal of Jesus is naming an outcast woman as an icon of faith and a true daughter of Israel. What is even more subversive is that Jesus brings direct attention to the fact that she was healed through touch. The purity codes meant that the bleeding woman was unclean and everyone she touched would be unclean. The attention Jesus draws to touch highlights the woman’s courage in stepping over the pure/impure boundary. Jesus, having been touched by the older woman, is also unclean. Yet in his “unclean” state enters the home of a Jewish leader and successfully heals his daughter.

The writers of Mark’s Gospel are provocative in that they have brought to light a story that is taboo and invisible. To state the bleeding obvious (pun intended), the woman “with the issue of blood” is not suffering from a 12-year nosebleed. Her haemorrhaging is not stated, but her bleeding may possibly have been a menstrual period with excessive flow or a type of abnormal uterine bleeding.

Following the example of Mark’s Gospel, we too can bring to light stories of suffering that are taboo and invisible. While the suffering from the COVID pandemic is globally significant, researchers are helping us understand that the shadow pandemic of domestic abuse is horrific. In our context and the context of Mark 5 we bring to light the stories of suffering of women and children rendered invisible by societal structures, in this case the effects of domestic abuse. By making visible the invisible the healing journey can begin.

Jesus differs from the disciples and the crowds in his response to the woman with the issue of blood. While in the busyness of helping others the disciples rush past the older woman, Jesus practices what Carol Gilligan calls “an unhurried presence.” Jesus is centred and grounded, noticing shifts in energy and power. Likewise, we too can learn the spiritual practice of being an unhurried presence and offer compassion to those we journey alongside.

The church together confers baptism on babies and children. Church members pledge their support for baptised children and promise to nourish them in the faith of the church. As these children reach the age of 12 like Jairus’ daughter, it may be tempting to revert to judgement and irritation rather than being the compassionate unhurried presence 12-year-olds need.  From 12 the teenage brain undergoes tremendous development. The neural pruning in the brain means that teens will forget and lose their possessions, they cannot help it. The growth of the limbic system means that teens have roller coaster emotions. The pre-frontal cortex is responsible for executive function like planning, offering thoughtful mature responses and understanding cause and effect. For teens, the connections between the pre-frontal cortex and the rest of the brain are in development until about 18 for girls and 25 for boys. Now add a volatile cocktail of hormones and you could have a perfect storm. Teens need our compassionate unhurried presence in developing their full potential.

Values

In February 2021 Alstonville Anglicans’ leaders were on retreat. They considered what they loved best about Alstonville Anglicans. As stories were shared, something beautiful happened: it was as if a stunning gift floated down from heaven and nestled amidst us. What follows are the best words that we are able to offer, to describe what we love best about Alstonville Anglicans.  When you come to us and when we go to you, this is what we are thinking and feeling about you.

•      Beloved:

•      each person comes into the world as an original blessing from God. Thus, each person is a beloved person: significant, wanted and loved.

•      Belonging:

•      anyone who wants to belong already belongs. We want to welcome each other as a gift, saying, “my greatest difference from you is my greatest gift to you”. Community matters and is protected. We want to consciously enjoy each other hearing “the Christ in me sees the Christ in you.”

•      Being:

•      we are human beings not human doings. Our being present is important. The Spirit of God vibrates within us “like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven.”

•      Believing:

•      we are partners with God in living heaven on earth now. We want to be one call among many, offering a provocative but compassionate voice calling for a whole new way of thinking and believing that is loving, liberating and lifegiving.

•      Blessing:

•      As beloved original blessings, we are blessed to be a blessing to others. God is always on God’s way through us to creation, of which humans are a part. We believe everyone is called, that everyone has something beautiful to do for God. We want to be the sort of beloved community that creates space for people to express their calling.

The values above are a statement of how we view you and ourselves, and every stranger that God sends us, who is a friend in waiting. The best news is that there is little for each of you to do, except to be who you already are. Each of you are beloved original blessings. Each of you belong to God and each other. Aware of your inner being, you believe in loving, life-giving and liberating ways. You are a blessing to others, making life even more beautiful for them. This is the energy of Alstonville Anglicans: beloved, belonging, being, believing, blessing.