Children

Jesus uses children several times in Mark's Gospel for moments of profound teaching to adults about the nature of both discipleship and the Kingdom of God. In doing so, I believe, the importance is as much about breaking through a system that little values children (the disciples were busy pulling them off Jesus and were obviously irritated at their interruption) as it is about the teachings themselves. How we struggle with the metaphors that we use for our worship spaces: holy temples, quiet and serene or frolicking hillsides full of children and the holy presence of Jesus sharing life-changing teaching even as he enjoys the company of the little ones.