Monday, Dec. 9

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 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord  (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”)  and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
     according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation

    that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

- Luke 2:22-32

Charles Eliot, the president emeritus of Harvard University. During the summer of his 90th year, he made his way slowly down the road from his cottage in Northeast Harbor, Maine, to the cottage next door. His neighbor greeted him warmly and invited him into the living room. After a brief conversation, Eliot asked if he might hold her new baby.  Mystified, she lifted her infant son from his crib and laid him in the arms of Harvard’s venerable president emeritus. Eliot held the baby quietly for a few minutes. Then, with a little gesture of thanks, he returned him to his mother, explaining, “I have been looking at the end of life for so long that I wanted to look for a few moments at its beginning.”

We all need hope. Especially in old age, but also at all other points in life, we need hope. One of the blessings that comes along with the little ones God entrusts to us is hope.  And yet, the hope that comes with children is an uncertain hope at best. There is always the uncertainty of disease or death. What parent of a newborn has not gone in by the crib in the middle of the night and put his or her ear down close enough to make sure that the little one is breathing?  And we don’t stop worrying once our children leave the crib.  Every stage of life brings with it a new set of uncertainties and new things to worry about; school, the influence of friends, dating, choosing a spouse, finding a job or career, the corruption and violence in the world, etc.

Given all of the uncertainties of life, when we meet an elderly person who is filled with hope, we need to sit up and take notice. Here is someone who could be pessimistic, cynical, filled with fears and anxieties. But he is brimming over with firm hope. We had better listen. We might learn some things.

Simeon was such a man. When he held the infant Jesus in his arms in the temple courtyard, we see more than just an old man taking hope in any newborn. Rather, we see an old man who has put his hope in the promises of God. This was no ordinary newborn! He was the fulfillment of all God’s promises to His people.  Think about that for just a moment... All his life, Simeon has been studying the promises of God and watching & waiting for them to come true...and now he stares into the tiny face that will be God’s answer to them all!  Simeon is holding in his own arms the answer to all of his prayers and the hope the entire world!  

Jeff Frazier