Thursday, 31 December 2020
A time for everything
Reading: Luke 2: 22 – 40
Scripture:“…for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2: 30-32)
Reflection:Rajini Coore’s article titled “Pandemic Productivity or Panicked Production?” examines why it is okay if you are not super productive during quarantine or lockdown. The year 2020 brought new authors, new businesses, new skills, new gardens, more telephone calls, and we congratulate those who so far have been able to stay afloat mentally and spiritually. It has not been easy! But there are those whose time in quarantine and the general pandemic experience have not for the glossy front pages. These are they who slowed down and unplugged. For yet another set, lockdown yielded a deeper understanding of themselves, deeper appreciation for their friends and family, a stronger bond with God. Our reaction may even have included a combination of all the above, and more. But wait…
Today’s reading celebrates time spent in waiting. Simeon had been waiting for a long time. The Bible does not tell us how old Simeon was, but it tells us that God had promised that Simeon would not see death until he laid eyes on the Christ, the consolation of Israel. The minute Simeon sees Jesus, he blessed God, and proclaimed a light to lighten and enlighten the Gentiles. And then he said the oddest thing – ‘Let me die now’, as if he was looking forward to it. Most of us are afraid of death, the finality, the darkness when the eyes are closed. But Simeon only sees Light, and now that Jesus is born, it is Simeon’s opportune time to die. Are we also people of that Light?
And then, there is Anna. At first we may be tempted to feel sorry for Anna, whose husband died after seven years of marriage and who now in her late eighties had spent every waking moment since then, praying and fasting in the temple. But do not rue her time, for now, Anna moves into high gear and “speaks of Him to all that are looking for redemption”.
There is beauty in “waiting”, especially when you are spending it like Simeon and Anna, intentionally, in prayerful expectation. There is an opportune time for everything
Meditation: There is profit in stillness, there is profit in stillness.
Prayer: O Lord our God, who knows what we need before we ask, teach us the patience to allow ourselves to be led by You, into that space where You would have us belong. Amen.
St. Jude’s Church
Stony Hill
Anglican Diocese of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands
31 December 2020