Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, July 16, 2023
A hem is a helpful thing. It turns up the unfinished edge of a cloth item and sews it into a secure border.
And fabric is not the only item to benefit from hemming. I remember a little printed note my sweet mother-in-law had in the window of her china cabinet: “A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to unravel.”
It always makes me smile to recall that encouragement for morning and evening conversations with God. The day itself may still unravel, because life is like that, but I think the good news is that the person who has paused to pray may find that she or he is less likely to unravel with it.
When I think of hems mentioned in the Bible I immediately think of three passages, two in the Old Testament and one in the New.
My first thought is of the priestly garment to be constructed according to the Lord’s instructions recorded in Exodus 28. I could both picture and hear this hem:
And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the LORD and when he comes out, that he may not die. (Exodus 28:33-35 NKJV)
And then I hear David, in Psalm 139, telling God that he knows how completely God knows him – where he is, what he’s doing, what he’s thinking, what he’s going to say before he says it, and:
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
(Psalm 139:5-6 NIV)
The poignant picture from the New Testament is that of the unnamed woman in the crush of the crowd around Jesus, desperately reaching out for healing:
And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.
(Matthew 9:20-22 NKJV)
A hem was a healing thing – or so it seemed. But Jesus made sure that the woman, and the crowd around her, knew that it was the woman’s faith that healed her.
I remember well the story of this one hem-touching woman, but I had forgotten this next Bible passage, which is filled with action and people and drama, and His hem:
And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.
(Mark 6:54-56 NKJV)
Doesn’t this make you long for the same scenario to play out today in our towns, Jesus walking through all our hospitals, making people well with His healing touch?
Hems are quiet things, but Ahems are not. The word Ahem! needs to be followed by an exclamation point, since it is the sound of someone clearing the throat, signaling the desire for attention to be paid.
I imagine God is saying Ahem! to me every day, trying to capture my attention, which is so easily distracted by a multitude of lesser voices. And we, in turn, call out our Ahems! to Him, hands raised to ask for His help, wanting the reassurance that He is paying attention to us.
As we step out into this brand-new week, I’m going to listen more closely for His Ahems!, because I don’t want to miss what He wants to say to me. It might even keep me from unraveling.