[Faith-talk] Thought for October 15

[Poppa Bear]

Becoming as little children.

--Author Unknown  

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a
high chair and noticed everyone was quietly eating and talking. Suddenly,
Erik squealed with glee and said, "Hi there." He pounded his fat baby hands
on the high chair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was
bared in a toothless grin, as he wriggled and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose
pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of
would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed.
His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so
varicose it looked like a road map. We were too far from him to smell, but I
was sure he smelled.

His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. Hi there, baby; Hi there, big
boy. I see ya, buster," the man said to Erik. My husband and I exchanged
looks, "What do we do?" Erik continued to laugh and answer, "Hi, hi there."
Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The
old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby.  

Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, "Do ya patty
cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo." Nobody
thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were
embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through
his repertoire for the admiring skid row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with
his cute comments.  We finally got through the meal and headed for the door.
My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot.
The old man sat poised between me and the door.

"Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik," I prayed. As
I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid
any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching
with both arms in a baby's "pick-me-up" position. Before I could stop him,
Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man's. Suddenly a veryold
smelly man and a very young baby consummated their relationship. Erik in an
act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the man's
ragged shoulder.

The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged
hands full of grime, pain, and hard labor, cradled my baby's bottom and
stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a
time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and
his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding
voice, "You take care of this baby." Somehow I managed,  "I will," from a
throat that contained a stone.

He pried Erik from his chest unwillingly, longingly, as though he were in
pain. I received my baby, and the man said, "God bless you, ma'am, you've
given me my Christmas gift. You see, m'am, I never saw my child grow up. My
wife and son were taken from me in an automobile accident when they were
both too young. I was never able to get over it."

I said nothing more than a muttered thanks and "I'm sorry to hear that."
With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was
crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, "My God, my God,
forgive me." I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence
of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a
soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was
blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking, "Are you
willing to share your son for a moment?" when He shared His for all
eternity. The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me...

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." -- Matthew 18:3 (NIV)