- 12 represents the completed cycle of experience.
- 12 is the symbol of cosmic order.
- There are 12 months in a year.
- Time is measured in two groups of 12 hours.
- There are 12 signs in the zodiac.
- There are 12 days of Christmas.
- On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me – 12 drummers drumming.
- Apollo 12 was the first moon walk.
- A total of 12 people have walked on the moon.
- There are 12 names for the sun in Sanskrit.
- In the color wheel there are 12 basic hues.
- There are 12 steps in recovery programs.
- There are usually 12 people on a jury.
- The 12th man in football refers to the role of the fans.
- There were 12 principle gods in Greek mythology who resided on Mount Olympus.
- King Arthur’s Roundtable had 12 knights.
- The Beatles released 12 studio albums.
- There are 12 half notes in each octave.
- In numerology, the number 12 is a higher octave of the number 3 and represents careful planning and orderly growth leading to spiritual development.
- My birth number is 12 before it is reduced to 3.
- I was born on the day before the 12th month began.
- I was 12 years old when a self-image formed that has stayed with and haunted me my entire life.
- Just under 12 years passed between my sister’s birth and when I left home.
- 12 years passed between leaving home and getting married.
- 12 years passed between getting married and graduating from seminary.
- 12 years passed between graduating from seminary and today.
- 12 years ago, my daughters were just 6 and 8.
- By this time next year, I will have been blogging for 12 years.
- Two years from now, I will have been divorced for 12 years.
- There were 12 tribes in Israel.
- The first recorded words of Jesus were when he was 12 years old.
- Jesus had 12 disciples.
- Mary Magdalene is mentioned 12 times in the Bible.
- Revelation 12 tells one of my favorite stories – about a woman clothed with the sun, the moon at her feet, and a crown of 12 stars round her head.
- There is another favorite story of mine that tells of the Hemorrhaging Woman who bled for 12 years.
- There are 12 letters in the word “hemorrhaging.”
I can tell her story in 12 sentences.
- 12 years of bleeding meant 12 years of isolation, pain, and grief.
- She had tried every medicine, method, and mantra – all to no avail.
- Still and always she held on to hope.
- When she heard about the man with the 12 disciples – a healer and miracle-worker – she was determined to put herself in his path.
- “Surely, if I can but touch the hem of his garment, I will be healed.”
- So she did.
- And she was.
- He said, “Who touched me?”
- His 12 disciples were incredulous as they looked at the pressing crowd and said, “What do you mean who touched you?”
- The woman finally stepped forward and said, “I did.”
- He responded: “Your faith has healed you.”
- Then he continued on his way – soon after to heal a 12-year-old girl.
I can finish this piece in just 12 more sentences. I promise.
- “Your faith has healed you,” he said.
- It was not the Divine, the miracle-worker, the man that made the difference.
- It was her.
- She made the healing happen.
- That feels hugely important to name and remember.
- My word for this year is “healing.”
- It is now the 12th month.
- Maybe there is still time.
- And maybe neither time nor healing is the point.
- Maybe it’s about still and always holding on to hope.
- Maybe it’s about faith – not in a miracle, a miracle worker, or even a man, but in myself.
- May it be so.
This woman’s story, the Woman of Revelation 12, even Mary Magdalene (mentioned 12 times), are but three of those I work with to create SacredReadings.