A hymn by Marjorie Dobson - A woman in a crowd touches Jesus robe- The touch was so light that it passed by unnoticed …
The touch was so light that it passed by unnoticed.
The crowd was so dense, who could possibly tell
that there in the crush was a desperate woman,
a woman entombed by her personal hell.
The touch was so light and yet someone had noticed –
the man at the centre; the man in demand;
the healer whose presence was urgently sought for
a child who was needing the power from his hand.
The touch turned his head as he wondered who’d done it.
The poor guilty woman was bowed by her shame.
But power had gone from him, he knew he was needed.
With fear she admitted that she was to blame.
The touch of his robe had already proved healing.
The sound of his voice was a blessing at last.
‘My daughter, take courage, your suffering is over.
Your pain and disgrace are a part of your past.’
One touch in a crowd had seemed pointless to others
and many felt agony at the delay.
But one outcast woman could be well for ever
and others would know that same touch on that day.
Marjorie Dobson (born 1940) based on Mark 5 vs 24-34 and Luke 8 vs 42-48
Words © 2017 Stainer & Bell Ltd., London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd
Metre: 12 11 12 11
Tunes: ERISKAY; STREETS OF LAREDO
Published in Hymns of Hope and Healing, Stainer & Bell Ltd
Tag: touch
Jesus meets a woman in a crowd – hymn inspired by Mark 5: 21 – 43
Hymn inspired by Mark 5: 21 – 43 Jesus meets a woman in a crowd
1 Within a crowd where we're alone
with nothing left to say;
when fear has traced our every step
and love has gone away;
God, give us courage, help us step
beyond this cage of time
to find again the freedom steps
to dance with heaven's rhyme.
2 God, help us grasp the hem of hope,
the garment of your grace;
to look again with certain eyes
at love within your face.
God, send us out to live again,
to live well and be blessed,
to pirouette with steps of love,
in every way refreshed.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2015 © Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Metre: CMD
Tune: KINGSFOLD
It makes sense – I’ll use my loaf
Is this the sun, condensed into a flower? Distant energy facilitates fine subdivision, mitochondrial machination building petal, sepal, branch and bower.
Sound struggles, beats on baffles beneath the strings. Sweet escape eludes then exudes mellifluously.
Pine needles, waft, scent air evoking place and season, sharp to unshod foot yet gentle olfaction, calms… relaxation.
Sensate to a feather brushing my cheek, soft, sensuous, soothing, like these sibilant characters typed on a page.
Childhood memories evoked as yeast, after millennia waiting, interacts in the present tense. Air carries intense anticipation of taste across the park, use my loaf, collect my daily bread.
AnDrew Pratt 8/2/2021
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