Resurrection Play

By Veronica

One of my oldest daughter’s first games was pretending to be Mary. She would put a blanket on her head as a long flowing veil, wrap a baby doll in a blanket and place it in a laundry basket. Then she usually knelt and sang “Away in a Manger.”

And since then, Bible stories frequently appear in my children’s play. It’s not possible to predict which stories will appeal to the girls’ imaginations, and sometimes I am surprised.

Today I heard my two oldest children – daughters aged five and four – playing together on the couch. The younger said to the older, “Let’s play Jesus dying on the cross.”

I sat still and listened, wondering what would happen next. Four-year-old stood up, stretched out her arms as though on a cross, and waited. Big sister was apparently playing the role of one of the women who prepared his body for burial, because she took down little sister’s arms, wrapped her in a blanket, and laid her on the couch. All very solemn and correct.

But apparently the resurrection was taking a little longer than big sister liked, because after only a moment or two, five-year-old shouted, “Open your eyes!” and threw herself on top of her little sister. She grabbed little sister’s face and shouted into it, “TALK, JESUS!”

I think “Jesus” complied, but it was hard to tell over all the giggling.

Observing this, I concluded two things: 1) I think Jesus would be pleased with the confident faith that heaves itself headlong on him, sure of a response, and 2) I am never reading these girls the book of Judges.