By Eliora Rios
While reading the story of the child Jesus being presented at the temple, we as readers are presented the two very devout figures of Simeon and Anna. From the two figures, we must have a deep admiration for their patience and devotion to faith. Anna had been practicing and fully devoted her life to faith for eighty-four years and Simeon had clung to life for the opportunity just to see Christ in the temple. Their patience and dedication are rewarded with an encounter with Jesus. I believe it is clear that one of the primary takeaways from the scripture here is the call for all of us to practice our own patience and dedication to Christ, so that we may all encounter him in our own ways.
Of course, many of us are unable to spend eighty-four years in prayer only worshiping and fasting. However, we can answer the call for dedication and faithful patience in a variety of ways. I believe that a key way that we can stay on our path for Jesus is stepping aside and allowing a small amount of time each day to set aside everything else and only focusing on communicating and attempting to feel the love of Christ in those moments. While it seems simple at first, continuing the practice for an extended time takes a strength to hold onto the faith despite the constant calls of the outside world. That is where our patience in faith must drive us forward.
In order to have the fortitude to dedicate consistent time to Christ and the undying love that he has for us we must be patient. We all know how it can be once we dedicate a lot of time to a project of any sort. Some days are more productive or insightful than others. At times there is a long period where we may feel that we just cannot continue, because we are not having anything impactful happening. I am sure both Simeon and Anna felt the same, spending so much of their lives waiting and praying. At any point they could have given up, but they did not and had the greatest reward for it, because of their unending faith. We must follow them! We cannot allow ourselves to grow weary when there are some days of lull, we must remember the fantastic splendor of Christ and wait patiently for him.
