We aren't told in Luke's gospel how long the old man Simeon had waited to meet the one, God had promised to send as Simeon had put it, the God revealing light to the non-Jewish nations, and the Glory for the people of Israel. But he immediately recognised the baby brought to the Temple by Mary and Joseph. He had come, God had kept His promise to many throughout history. He had come as a vulnerable baby, for whom it was foretold that he would suffer, harm, even death at the hands of mankind, but he had still come. Moreover there was an outpouring of joy from heaven at His coming, as the shepherds suddenly found, an angel messenger with a message of great joy to everybody worldwide, soon joined by a heavenly choir singing of God's glory and man's peace. may we marvel once again before a timeless, creator God who loves us so much that he wants us to know him personally as a loving heavenly Father, and so came from heaven becoming one of us.