Get Up!

When Jesus had crossed 

again in the boat to the 

other side, a great crowd 

gathered round him; and 

he was by the lake. Then 

one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus 

came and, when he saw

 him, fell at his feet and 

begged him repeatedly,

 ‘My little daughter is at

 the point of death. Come

 and lay your hands on her,

 so that she may be made 

well, and live.’ So he went

 with him.

And a large crowd followed 

him and pressed in on him.

 Now there was a woman

 who had been suffering

 from hemorrhages for

 twelve years. She had 

endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that 

she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had 

heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and 

touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will

 be made well.’ Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she 

felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately

 aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about 

in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his 

disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how

 can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see

 who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened 

to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and 

told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith

 has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

 While he was still speaking, some people came from the

 leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the

 teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said

 to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ He

 allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John,

 the brother of James. When they came to the house of the

 leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping

 and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them,

 ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead

 but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. Then he put them all

 outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who 

were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by

 the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl,

 get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about

 (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know 

this, and told them to give her something to eat. Mark 5:21-43

Get Up!

Faith sneaks in when all else fails

when death is turning the knob

when the pounding grows so loud

when the bombs explode close by.

We believe in our own mastery

until the foolish notions crumble

as age and worry bear us down

when we can do nothing but give in.

The moment when we lose it all

we find there is still a bit more

a light breaks through the window

fracturing the worst of our fears.

There is a touch and a recognition

our need has not gone unnoticed

our strangeness brokenness is wonderful

 and our lives are regarded as precious.