Bible Text: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-26; Mark 5:25-31 | Pastor: Lynn Thompson Bryant | We heard a very strong reading from Proverbs this morning.  Reflecting on the quality of Wisdom shows we have much to learn from Israel’s sages.  Hopefully, we acquire Wisdom from applying ourselves to study of scripture, from experience, and from listening to the Spirit, or the Wisdom character of the Holy Trinity.   Sometimes we allow the two facets of wisdom—the contemplative life and the active life—to drift apart. How can we recover a full circle perspective on wisdom?  Wisdom calls to us from the beginning of time – from the crossroads:  the intersection of the city gates and the road to eternity.

I appreciate this Wisdom reading for Trinity Sunday, including the power of the Holy Spirit with the Source of Life and the Redeeming Love of Christ our Savior.  I believe this story from the Gospel of Mark gives us another set of three that give us a relevant teaching for today.  We have Jesus: God Incarnate, breathing Love.  We have the disciples, who Jesus has called to be his helpers.  And we have the crowd, including the Woman who is in great need of being liberated from her crippling disease.  She has sought healing in all the typical places to which one might turn.  She has exhausted her contacts, her savings, and has almost lost all hope.

But when the woman hears that Jesus is near, her spirit lifts.  She knows he is on a mission to somewhere else, so she does not seek to slow him down.  If she could just inch herself through the crowd and merely touch his cloak, he can continue on his way – and she will be free from her devastating disease.  So…, she touches his cloak.