Prophetess Anna was in the temple the day that Baby Jesus was
presented (Luke 2:36). She spent years of her life, and hours upon hours there, worshiping
and awaiting the Savior. Widow Anna spent at least 60 years learning the
posture of invisibility. For years she had no husband from whom to receive
attention, as well as the tangible feedback, “You’re beautiful.” If she was childless, she was considered cursed. IF instead she did have children,
they were busy with the day-to-day. They needed to earn enough to support their
families and Widow Anna.
Anna’s rewards of losing self in worship and being in God’s
Temple were intangible. Even ordinary. Year, after year, after year. But when Mary and Joseph arrived to the
temple that day with their new bundle of blessing, Anna was ready. She had learned the skill
of worshiping in the dark; not seeing the answer to her prayers to see the Savior. She worshiped not to get, but to give. In other words, worship was not about her and what she could get; worship was about giving to God. For most, that is a challenging perspective
change.
Changing perspective can be compared to using a cell phone camera’s
panoramic capability. Select “pano” and an arrow appears on the screen to guide
your shot. Simple. But if a user has a mental block, and moves the phone right to left
rather than left to right, opposite the direction of the arrow on the
screen, a junk picture rather than a pano is created. I learned this,
because it happened to me during my nephew’s ordination ceremony. I wanted a full pano picture showing the audience and the important moment that was happening on stage. I tried again
and again to take a pano, but ended up with a blurry floor picture.
So, I finally settled for an ordinary picture of just the action on stage. User error was overlooked. Later, during the sermon, out of the blue, a light-bulb moment occurred. I had
been moving the phone right to left, the wrong direction. Duh! And, I wondered: From where did that random idea fly into my mind?
Moving out of self, to others and to God, is like my
light-bulb moment. That is what it takes to "get" it. Finally seeing the critical fine-line difference; internalizing the
direction change that creates the bigger picture. Using my lips, my lungs, my life, and my being to worship--to give. Maybe that is why Anna could see God's unseen announcement:
Baby. Jesus. Is. Special.
Anna’s worship postured
her mind for God to show her things beyond understanding; left to right;
new perspective. And then she did what she had been doing all along, for years with God: She shared the special news with others in the temple that day...
Anna. Gave.
 |
| "Pano"-fail |
