If I Could...
A short story by Horane Smith

An eagle hovered above gracefully, its wings slicing through the early morning sky along the coast of Galilee, with little effort.

The eyes of Rebecca, a middle-aged woman of Gadarena, a small village along the rugged coastline, followed the eagle as it flew past her window and disappeared into the blueness of infinity She was a troubled woman; troubled because of this mysterious sickness that had been a menace in her life for the past twelve years.

Repeatedly, Rebecca, accompanied by her husband, Mathias, had gone to Ozi, Gadarena' s lone physician, only to be told there wasn't much he could do.

"You have an issue of blood, my dear," and there isn't much I can do about it: he had told her on the first trip. On the last visit, Ozi gave her some herbs, a concoction of various types of plants that have reportedly helped a lot of his patients with a similar problem "I tell you this will help Rebecca. It's the best I can do," Ozi assured her.

Those words came ringing back to Rebecca's ears now because that was about a month ago, and here she was still suffering from this problem. What is next? Rebecca asked herself.

The presence of the eagle reminded her that today was the day Jesus of Nazareth would be passing through the village. She got word yesterday from a relative that he would be passing there on his way from Galilee, where this Jesus is said to have showed healing powers never seen before.

Reports circulating all over the land said he had let the blind see, the dumb speak, the crippled walk, and then there was the most incredible of all he had raised someone from the dead.

Immediately, Rebecca and Mathias decided that they must go and see this Jesus that some said was the prophesied Messiah and also the Son of God. As Rebecca got dressed to begin their walk into the town, her mind was on nothing else but this Jesus "If I could…"she told herself. "If I could only touch him, I think I can be healed."

As the minutes flashed by, her belief in that notion began to grow 'more and more Rebecca had heard the stories about a Messiah that would return to take away the sins of the world. However, she possessed little knowledge about anything else regarding that.

The walk into town was only ten minutes and Rebecca and Mathias were amazed to see the crowd already gathered. In fact, when they got there they saw the crowd surrounding the central figure of a man.

"That must be Jesus," Mathias whispered.

"It's him! It’s him!" Rebecca said, excitement building up in her voice. Mathias was surprised to see his wife smiling again. It had been a long while now since her round and lovely face offered that expression.

Without any hesitation, Rebecca grabbed Mathias by the hand and led him toward the swelling crowd.. "If I could…if I could only touch the hem of his garment, I would be made whole," she said to Mathias

Rebecca and Mathias wormed their way through the crowd until they could see the young man said to be Jesus. He was addressing the crowd. The silence was deafening. Rebecca edged closer, not realizing that she was no longer holding Mathias' hand. Somehow, she had lost him in the crowd.

God was on her side, Rebecca told herself because she was getting closer and closer and…closer. "If I could …"she kept telling herself. 

All the heads were turned in one direction so people in the crowd didn't bother to see who was stepping on a toe pushing out of a sandal, or a shoulder rubbing against another Rebecca took advantage of that opportunity to reach within touching distance of this simple looking young man smiling with his audience and speaking with so much confidence

Rebecca made a step, then another, and another. As Rebecca did, her outstretched hand guided her toward her target. "If I could..." she mumbled to herself. "If I could.." she said a little louder. A man beside her looked up into Rebecca's face as if to say what was she doing so close to the Son of God.

"One more step," she told herself, " and this wretched blood problem will disappear from my body." And Rebecca did just that. She felt her fingers as they touched his white silky garment.

Instantaneously, something happened that Rebecca could not explain Somehow, she felt different, very different, and most of all, she felt anew.

Suddenly, Jesus looked around "Who touched me?" he asked calmly.

No one would own up to it One of his followers Peter told him it must have been the crowd pushing against him.

"Somebody has touched me; for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me," Jesus replied. Rebecca was too close to him to deny it and so she admitted touching him. "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace"

"Th-thank you Master," she managed to say with a smile (Based on Luke 8:44)