when an old man named Simian identified the infantry

in won

What are you going to be doing today, Mr. Simian? Someone might have asked him. Well,

said Simian, I'm going to spend today waiting. Come now, Mr. Simian, isn't that what you

were doing yesterday? Yes, said Simian, that's actually what I do every day. You just

wait. Well, it's not all I do, but it's part of what I do. Or it must be great to be retired.

It's wonderful to be retired. Mr. Simian, what is it exactly that you are waiting for? Well,

I'm waiting for the consolation of Israel. Or if you like, I'm waiting for the salvation of Israel.

Mr. Simian, do you think you'll recognize this when it happens? Oh, yes, when I see him,

I will know that it is him. And Luke says, and when Jesus' parents brought the child in,

he, Simian, took him up in his arms, blessed God and said, may I have your permission to die in

peace, Lord, for with my own eyes, I have seen your salvation. I don't know how many places

there are in the Bible either where people ask for permission to die. Now, that's essentially

what he's saying. Lord, will you now let me die in peace? Let me depart in peace. It is a request.

The reason that I am glad now to anticipate going on is because I have seen your salvation.

Incidentally, one should never pray the first part of that prayer unless the second part is

applicable to us and we have understood and embraced it. Now, the context in which this dramatic

scene unfolds is one of obedience on the part of Mary and Joseph to the requirements of the Jewish

law. They, as a good young Jewish couple, would ensure that they were doing everything according to

the book, both in terms of bringing Christ to be circumcised on the eighth day and also in terms

of the fulfillment of the purification rights which had been delineated all these years before

in the book of Leviticus. Now, it would be possible for us and it certainly wouldn't be

...