It was 60 years since I came here, when my dear Caleb died before his time. many might say that so long in prayer was a not quite I life. i would beg to differ. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise his name. i had learnt to worship God as I live Israel’s song book. I also saw all of life, and danced with joy, if my knees allowed me to, as I took opportunities to pray for people. Of course, I was not a priest, I am only a woman, and an old woman at that. Some people who came to the Temple saw me and we shared together. The younger priests had not yet learnt how to pray. Simeon had and he welcomed me in his own way, weary though he was. He used to say it is written that young men should grow weary and rise on eagles’ wings, but perhaps old men are best just seeing grace on the ground. Sometimes I wondered what it would have been like to have children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren, like my sister, but I would not have lived to see this day.

I worried about Simeon. He was faithful and yet so weary. He had been full of hope at one stage, not just of marriage and family life that never came his way. But recently, his faith seemed to have ebbed slowly away.  He had believed that the Messiah would come. Me? I had learnt simply to live one day at a time. I had missed out you might have said on so much by Caleb’s death, yet, I have learnt to delight in the love and law of God. Praying constantly can give joy and lament, and I have come to delight in the goodness of God. When Simeon sighed and fretted at the machinations of the powerful, I knew simply that God was on the throne.

I had been praying and praising for a good few hours before I went into the Temple. I caught sight of Simeon blessing a baby – and I knew. His whole posture was different. I approached tentatively. At my age, I could do little else, and I hear with my old ears the whispers of Simeon, ‘my eyes have seen your salvation’. My heart warmed and then danced with unmitigating joy. Simeon’s eyes met with mine and together they did a triple somersault.

For a moment to anyone who listen, I became ambassador for the king. The Messiah has arrived I proclaimed to anyone who would listen, adding my prayers and unauthorised blessings for the couple and their child. I skipped around the temple courts, well that is what I thought I was doing, I am sure everyone else saw an old lady doing an incoherent jig. I did not mind, the goodness of God had come. What a day to be alive.