
Luke 2:36-40
I have always loved the prophetess Anna. There is an air of mystery about her as I try to imagine what it would mean to never leave the Temple. Anna has a single focus: she’s there to serve God until her last breath. She stands in a tradition of men and women whose whole lives are given over to the single-hearted service of God. Anna’s heart and mind must have been finely tuned to the things of God.
Maria Boulding’s description of the chosen people in her book, The Coming of God, expresses something of how I imagine Anna:
‘The chosen people were created to be a centre of attunement, receptivity and expectation, a place of felt need and desire. They were to listen to God’s word, to long for him, and to be the womb-community which would bring forth the One who was to come.’
Who are the Annas in your own life?
How is God calling you to listen to his Word and to long for him?