***<\/p>\n
Even living in a small town, there reaches a point when you cease to care what people think. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t the embarrassing public episodes that had driven her to this point. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t even the waking up every morning wondering, \u201cWhat is going to happen today?\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the going to bed at night.\u00a0Going to bed with the knowledge that you might well wake in the night \u2014 or fail to wake in the night \u2014 because this precious child, who loved you so tenderly when she was in her wits, might be glowering over you in the darkness, knife in her hand, no longer seeing, no longer thinking, seized again by that unseen force.<\/p>\n
It would pass. It always did. And then it would come again.<\/p>\n
Looking the fool for standing out on the road waiting for some legendary Jewish rabbi who might \u2014 or might not \u2014 pass her way? \u00a0That was nothing. \u00a0Not anymore.<\/p>\n
And anyway, she had reliable news. \u00a0The rabbi was indeed coming this way. \u00a0A man from the next village had seen them, and he was now recounting all the controversies to the usual crowd that fed on controversy.<\/p>\n
She walked on, to find her spot. \u00a0Some place away from the bustle. \u00a0She really didn\u2019t care whether this rabbi had just made some other rabbi mad by opinionating on hand-washing . . . really? \u00a0Handwashing? This man had fed 5,000 people, and what made the gossip up and down the roads was the question of\u00a0handwashing<\/em>? \u00a0She shook that thought off, and climbed up on a rock to see if she could get a view of the rabbi\u2019s entourage coming up the rise.<\/p>\n There. \u00a0That was them. \u00a0She knew it. \u00a0A large group of Jews were shuffling along, their enthusiasm for their journey apparently beginning to wane.<\/p>\n She hopped down from the rock. \u00a0The men drew closer, and she knew right away which one was the rabbi Jesus. \u00a0He was the only one who didn\u2019t look miserable.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n They were arguing over something. \u00a0That is, the rabbi wasn\u2019t. \u00a0The others were. \u00a0She caught snatches of it on the breeze. \u00a0Why are we out here? \u00a0Why are we wasting our time with pagans? \u00a0Isn\u2019t our mission to the lost tribes of Israel?<\/em><\/p>\n Jesus was, like a mother with a cranky toddler clinging to the\u00a0legs, roundly ignoring them.<\/p>\n They were nearly upon her now. \u00a0It was time. \u00a0\u201cHave pity on me, Lord, Son of David!\u201d<\/strong> she called. \u00a0\u201cMy daughter is tormented by a demon.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n She gaped. It wasn\u2019t supposed to work like this. \u00a0Wasn\u2019t he supposed to go and heal the girl, and perhaps admonish her to tell no one? That\u2019s how the stories always went.<\/p>\n Instead, he sat down on a rock on the other side of the road, and took a drink from his waterskin.<\/p>\n But he had healed so many! \u00a0He would answer her. \u00a0She knew he would. \u00a0Just thirsty, that was all. \u00a0Maybe he hadn\u2019t heard her over his disciples\u2019 arguing. \u00a0She called out again.<\/p>\n His eyes flashed her way, and then back to his own patch of ground. \u00a0He took another sip.<\/p>\n She called again.<\/p>\n Jesus\u2019 disciples came and asked him, \u201cSend her away, for she keeps calling out after us.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, that was hopeful. If pestering his disciples was what it took to persuade this rabbi to heal her daughter, so be it.<\/p>\n She started to call again, and then stopped herself. \u00a0Jesus was about to speak to his disciples.<\/p>\n He<\/strong>\u00a0spread his hands helplessly, shrugged, and said in reply,\u00a0\u201cI was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0When he\u2019d gotten that much out, he pressed his lips together to keep the edge of a\u00a0smile from escaping, and quickly took another sip of water to cover-over.\u00a0\u00a0If this weren\u2019t a famous Jewish rabbi, she\u2019d have sworn she\u2019d heard a child\u2019s sing-song mocking in that tone.<\/p>\n No, not her imagination. \u00a0 That\u2019s what his disciples had\u00a0been arguing about, wasn\u2019t it? \u00a0He was giving them their words right back at them.<\/p>\n She wondered if this was going to devolve into one of those handwashing incidents. \u00a0Men. \u00a0Impossibly distractable. \u00a0She couldn\u2019t leave this to chance. \u00a0She crossed the road, and came and did Jesus homage, saying, \u201cLord, help me.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n The disciples stepped back, as if she had some kind of Canaanite-disease they might catch from her.<\/p>\n She had an intense pity for this rabbi \u2014 he could make the blind see and the lame walk, and these were the men he had to spend all day with?<\/p>\n Well. \u00a0They weren\u2019t her problem.<\/p>\n She waited. \u00a0He would answer. \u00a0She knew he would.<\/p>\n One of his followers muttered, \u201cJust heal the wretched girl so we can get moving.\u201d<\/p>\n Now the rabbi allowed that ironic\u00a0smile to escape into plain view. \u00a0 This was what he had been waiting for. \u00a0So now you\u2019re willing for me to heal her? \u00a0Because it\u2019s convenient for you? That\u2019s how we\u2019re going to use the power of life and death, then?<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>He raised his voice an octave and bobbled his head, paraphrasing his disciples\u2019 argument so they could see how absurd it sounded as\u00a0He said in<\/strong> reply<\/strong>, \u201cIt is not right to take the food of the children\u00a0and throw it to the dogs.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The muttering disciple squeezed his eyes shut, cringing, as those words rang in all their vapidity.<\/p>\n She snorted. \u00a0No one had told her he had a thing for puns<\/a>. \u00a0Well. \u00a0If it was a game of words he wanted, a game she would play. \u00a0\u00a0She said, \u201cPlease, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps\u00a0<\/strong>that fall from the table of their masters.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n His disciples stared at her. \u00a0Had she just said that?<\/p>\n Yes she had.<\/p>\n She would do whatever it took. \u00a0She didn\u2019t care what they thought.<\/p>\n She needed this Jesus. \u00a0She could not let him go until he healed her daughter.<\/p>\n There was silence. \u00a0No one dared move. \u00a0Way down the road, you could hear two children chasing after a runaway goat. \u00a0She watched only him. Waiting.<\/p>\n Waiting.<\/p>\n The smile on the rabbi\u2019s face dissolved into grief. \u00a0He knew. \u00a0About her. \u00a0About her daughter. \u00a0What it was like. \u00a0Then Jesus said to her in reply, \u201cO woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Let it be done.<\/p>\n He had said it. He had said it!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And she knew at that instant that it had been done.<\/p>\n She could have kissed the man.<\/p>\n She eyed his disciples and thought better of it.<\/p>\n Jesus rose, taking a final sip from that waterskin, and made to herd his flock of chastened understudies down the road. \u00a0 She was dismissed.\u00a0Go in peace.<\/em><\/p>\n She went. \u00a0She had a daughter to recover.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"File:Folio](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/07\/Folio_164r_-_The_Canaanite_Woman.jpg\/407px-Folio_164r_-_The_Canaanite_Woman.jpg\")
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