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Posted December 03, 2005 10:34 AM
A Baby's Hug

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."

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!