Anticipation

By Alana Parkes, Admin and Outreach Manager

Dear Friends,

I still remember the very first message I gave in Meeting for Worship. I was in high school. It was the Sunday before Christmas, when we had our annual pageant at the rise of Meeting. (It must have been one of the few years that I wasn’t in the pageant.) Two chairs had been placed in front of the fireplace before worship, waiting for the children playing Joseph and Mary to come in and have a seat with the baby Jesus. We used the same script every year, so almost everyone knew what was coming, and with an hour to go before the pageant, the room was electric. 

The message came with the full-body trembling I had heard about. Knowing that I needed to speak—AND that I should speak before any other messages—propelled me up off the bench. The message was about how the sense of anticipation that we felt that morning was one that we could feel all year. That on any given Sunday, we were waiting for Jesus to walk in and sit down with us. 

While it’s almost impossible for me to feel that level of excitement on a regular basis, I try to remember that sense of anticipation before I step into the welcoming Light of a gathered meeting.

December is upon us once again, with its relentless flurry of activity. Some years I use an Advent calendar to try to slow things down. This year, I’m trying to hold in my heart that the things that keep me so busy over next few weeks are opportunities to gather with the people I love. They are chances to think of some small gift that might express my love or to share my favorite cookies from my grandmother’s recipe with my community. 

I hope that you find moments free from the stresses that abound this time of year to feel both the love that surrounds you and the many opportunities for joyful anticipation.

Alana Parkes
Admin and Outreach Manager