The Child is Not Dead, Only Asleep

Mark 5: 21 When Jesus went in the boat back to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him there. 22 A leader of the synagogue, named Jairus, came there, saw Jesus, and fell at his feet. 23 He begged Jesus, saying again and again, "My daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so she will be healed and will live." 24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed Jesus and pushed very close around him. 25 Among them was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered very much from many doctors and had spent all the money she had, but instead of improving, she was getting worse. 27 When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his coat. 28 She thought, "If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29 Instantly her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed from her disease. 30 At once Jesus felt power go out from him. So he turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" 31 His followers said, "Look at how many people are pushing against you! And you ask, 'Who touched me?'" 32 But Jesus continued looking around to see who had touched him. 33 The woman, knowing that she was healed, came and fell at Jesus' feet. Shaking with fear, she told him the whole truth. 34 Jesus said to her, "Dear woman, you are made well because you believed. Go in peace; be healed of your disease." 35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of the synagogue leader. They said, "Your daughter is dead. There is no need to bother the teacher anymore." 36 But Jesus paid no attention to what they said. He told the synagogue leader, "Don't be afraid; just believe." 37 Jesus let only Peter, James, and John the brother of James go with him. 38 When they came to the house of the synagogue leader, Jesus found many people there making lots of noise and crying loudly. 39 Jesus entered the house and said to them, "Why are you crying and making so much noise? The child is not dead, only asleep." 40 But they laughed at him. So, after throwing them out of the house, Jesus took the child's father and mother and his three followers into the room where the child was. 41 Taking hold of the girl's hand, he said to her, "Talitha, koum!" (This means, "Young girl, I tell you to stand up!") 42 At once the girl stood right up and began walking. (She was twelve years old.) Everyone was completely amazed. 43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell people about this. Then he told them to give the girl something to eat.
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Have you given the concept of "discovering your inner child" much thought? From what I can tell, this concept comes more from the recovery movement (AA and affiliated groups) than psychology. Therapists apply this approach to help the counselee discover their feelings (please excuse the over simplification). A question that was directed to me recently, "What feelings did that five year old boy have when his mother abandoned him?"

I have denied myself any feelings that I may have had for my birth mother. It seems this has served me well over these many years to say to myself, "She is probably dead." That way I felt like I did not need to deal with my feelings about her. I am really not sure how I feel about anything. Reflecting on childhood and asking the question, "How did I feel about this event at this time in my life?" is uneasy.

Jesus often admonished his followers to become like children -- even to the point of saying that "You must be born again." He instructed the little children to come to him. Jesus loved children.

Everyone thought Jairus' daughter was dead. It was taking Jesus too long to get there according to the many people who were crying and carrying on. Jesus said she wasn't dead but asleep.

Maybe the child in me is not dead, but asleep? How would I awaken the inner child?

Along the way, Jesus was touched by a woman who had a bleeding problem for twelve years. She believed that if should could just touch Jesus, she would be healed. Maybe it was this bleeding problem that interupted her childhood. It would be very difficult for her to be "childlike" with this kind of problem. She wasn't dead, but she was unable to wake up to life.

"The child is not dead, only asleep." What does it mean to be childlike? How do you wake up the inner child? Is it possible that some issue in your life has arrested your development? Maybe you think you are dead, but you are only asleep.

Of course the message of the writer, Mark (and probably Peter), is that the Jesus touch is what heals us. Maybe a good title for this passage in the book of Mark would be, "Getting in Touch with Jesus."