Saturday, January 07, 2006
A BABY'S HUG
A BABY'S HUG
Author Unknown
Jan 7, 2006
We were the only family with children in the restaurant.
I sat Erik in a highchair and noticed everyone was quietly
sitting and talking.
Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, "Hi." 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."
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 very old smelly man and a very young baby
consummated their love and kinship. 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, lovingly and 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." I said nothing more than
a muttered thanks.
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, "To enter the
Kingdom of God, we must become as little children."
If this has blessed you, please bless others by sending it on.
PRAYER
"Lord, change my heart and fill me with your wisdom that I my love
your ways. Give me grace and courage to resist temptation and
stubborn willfulness that I may truly desire to do what is pleasing
to you."
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