by Dr. Laura Savage-Rains
“There was also a prophet, Anna . . . She was now an 84-year-old widow. She never left
the temple area but worshiped God with fasting and prayer night and day.”
—Luke 2:36a, 37 (NIV)
My prayer-filled, sun-dried hands
reached upward
Silent sunbeams skipped around the serene scene
waiting to receive the newborn infant from the arms of an enraptured Simeon
between the Temple’s arcaded columns
Next to me, holding her breath, the youthful mother, Mary,
Cooing danced from the cage of two turtledoves
just as she would each time she released a
teetering-teething-teaching Jesus
Marble walls reverberated rabbis’ ancient arguments
A grateful grin grew on the lips of a watchful, tired Joseph
Pound, pound, pound—a carpenter hammered a startling sound
I cradled the bundle closer and
kissed his fist as tiny toes
pushed their way out
of the swaddled linen wrap
Dense clouds shrouded the gleaming sun
I nuzzled his chubby cheek
intoxicated by his newborn essence
So fresh, so soft, so fragile!
Those black curls remind me of my late husband
Collected coins clinked into Temple treasury urns
I had heard Simeon’s ominous words to the young parents
My prophet’s heart wary of
the weight of such truth
Unblemished lambs bleated; fragrant embers wafted from the Temple’s altar
A squirming baby Jesus grimaced, squinting his dark eyes,
quietly answering the musical warble of the turtledoves
and the pleading whimpers of the sheep
A holy conversation?
Sun rays emerged from brief entombment
I knew this moment would come.
I am actually holding God’s greatest Gift—
our Hope, our Savior!
Shining on all who would notice—or not—
I couldn’t resist placing one more kiss
on the perfect, olive skin of our infant Messiah
as I returned him to his mother’s welcoming, eager embrace
Piercing dark Temple corners made by human hands
The Gift now given,
my heralding heart and mission-filled feet
rush away
Blanketing peaceful warmth over peasants, publicans, and priests
ready to reveal this newborn Redemption
not yet rejected by the world’s restless arms
