I am "His Daughter," I am "Shalom," Say...My...Name

A New Testament Gospel Midrash: The Voice of the Hemorrhaging Woman (Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48) by Dr. Sarita Melkon Maldjian

I am “His Daughter,” I am “Shalom”, Say…My…Name

I am nobody… I am broken… I am damaged.

He is there, I see Him!  The mere sight of Him makes my ailing anemic body whole again.  But it is not.  It is impure and I am evil.   I am tired, weeping day and night and have no rest.

My blood contaminates this wretched body of mine. Why God?  Why do you make me bleed so? 

But He is there, before my very weary eyes.  He is there!  If only, if only I could see him, and touch him, if only.

They, these men, these men of valor, these holy men, they call me the hemorrhaging woman.  I have a name, but it is never spoken.  Say it.  Say….my…. name.   Say it…please…say it, in memory of me.  The Lord knows my name, He knows but

I am nobody…  I am broken… I am damaged.

My bleeding does not stop, and I have become a peasant woman with nothing because of it.  The physicians will not touch me for I am unclean.  They have tried to heal me, but I have grown worse.  They say I have sinned before the Lord.  They say my insides, my walls from within, have fallen out.  The healers who are wise say it is because I have begotten those who are the living and those who were touched by death before their first breath.  The flow of life has now become the flow of death.  For,

I am nobody…I am broken…I am damaged.

I am closer to Him, I see him…. but I am unclean, I am not worthy. But… He is there, THERE!  The Lord has brought Him before me, He is there!  The healers say he is the master healer for only He can help me.  They say, I have a swollen belly that has lumps of curses from the devil and evil spirits.  I spend my days perched on the outskirts of my village hidden in a tent sitting on a hole for my life is over.  I have polluted everything and everyone around me.  I do not know what is wrong with me. 

I am nobody…I am broken…I am damaged.

See me Lord, heal me. These twelve years are my punishment, but I have had enough.  My money is gone, and I am alone with no man to own me, care for me. I am closer and He is there.  I need to reach for Him, my faith is strong, if only He could heal me. They say my blood is red like the Nile River of the curse upon Egypt and God is punishing me.  If I could touch His clothes, I will be cured.  If I only touch His cloak.  The very hem of His cloak.  I will crawl like the pusillanimous toad that I am, and He will not know.  If I can just…touch…it…if…only…

It is done!  I am whole!  I am my name once again.  Say….my… name!

My Lord, you felt my touch, with trembling heart and hands, I beseech you!  I lie here prostrate before You and ask for your forgiveness.

I was nobody, I was broken, I was damaged,

and you healed me, my  wretched hemorrhaging body.

As He blesses me, I feel a woman once again, no longer a  demonic possessed being but a real woman.  A woman of God, no longer unclean.  My name is “His Daughter,” I am “Shalom.” My courageous faith is seen, and I am at peace.

 I am not nobody…I am not broken…and I am not damaged. 

 I am the hemorrhaging woman no more and I am free.

(October 2023)