Little Girl, Arise

Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.  When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.  So he went in and said to them, “Why this commotion and weeping?  The child is not dead but asleep.” And they ridiculed him. 

Then he put them all out. He took along the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.

How many of us fathers and mothers through inattention or failure to praise and love have made it seem to our little girls (and boys) that they are dead.    Much damage is done to our children by these parental failures.

There's  a short story by O. Henry (recently repeated by Father Wyndham) in which he told of a little girl whose mother had died. When the father would come home from work, he would fix their meal, then he would sit down with his paper and pipe, put his feet up on the mantle, and read. The little girl would come and say, "Father, would you play with me?" And he would say, "No, I'm too tired, I'm too busy. Go out in the street and play."

This went on for so long that finally the little girl grew up on the streets, and became what we would call a "streetwalker," a prostitute. Eventually she died, and when, in the story, her soul appeared at the gates of heaven, Peter said to Jesus, "Here's this prostitute. Shall we send her to hell?" Jesus said, "No, no; let her in. But go find the man who refused to play with his little girl, and send him to hell."

We need to follow Jesus into our children's rooms to take their hands and say to them, “Little girl, little boy, we say to you, arise!  We have caused you to weep.  We have been asleep.  We are now awake and wish to walk with you.  Do not be afraid.  Please forgive us.”

Deacon David Pierce