The Hem

As my mother Mariah escapes Bethlehem with my eighteen-month-old brother to avoid King Herod's death squad, she secretly sends me to the safety of Jerusalem. I was only 6 weeks old.

The Jerusalem Temple becomes my sanctuary. With Dinah my mentor I immerse myself in service and learn master camel riding alongside the Roman infantry. Life seems idyllic.

At twenty, I am banished from the temple with an incurable illness. Despite my affliction, I find solace in serving others with Sophie, Dinah's daughter. I am asked to design and craft a 'special' tunic at the request of Peter's assistant Tobin. At just the right moment, Joshua, a young merchant, gives me a skein of royal purple thread; the exact color I needed.

My illness grows worse, and I hear more stories of Jesus healing. I seek Him.

I desperately reach and touch His hem. I know every royal purple stitch. He calls me daughter. I am healed.

My friends negotiate my acceptance back into the Jerusalem Temple where I resume serving and teaching children as before. However, my healing creates enemies.

It's a trap.

I am now forced to flee again.