I became a Teen ager during the turbulent sixties.

My church, although very conservative and strict, didn’t complain when it was invaded by an assortment of hippies in faded jeans, bell bottoms, and longer hair. As a matter of fact my Sunday School teacher, Jess Jones, took great pride in praying for each of those teen age boys in our church.

One by one Jess saw each of those noisy hippies make commitments to Christ. I was one of them.

I was hurt when I heard the news that Jess had gone on to be with the Lord. But gratitude filled my heart for his commitment to young men as myself. He often said that he would not live long enough to see the end result of those young men he had prayed for and led to Christ. But he always smiled and said, “It’s all right. I’ve seen it start. I’ve held the baby.”

His statment always puzzled me. It was later in live that I found out what “holding the baby” meant.. When Mary and Joseph took Baby Jesus to the Temple, an old man named Simeon met them. Simeon had been promised that before he died he would see the Christ. An inner sense drew him to take the baby in his arms. In the face of a helpless infant, Simeon saw the king of kings.

Advent is abou the hope we allow to flow through us as we, like Simeon, “hold the baby,” knowing that from these wobbly beginnings will come greater, brighter, more wonderful things. Today I have lived nearly as many decades as my friend Jess Jones. Thanks to the hope he had in my small beginnings of faith, I would like to think that I have grown into someone like him.

I look into the faces of our 20 something group and thank God that I may not see the end result, but, “I have held the baby!”

This is my story…