By the time she makes her appearance in holy pages, Anna is at least 84 years old. Some argue the text implies she’d been a widow for 84 years, making her age 100 plus. Either way, we can agree based on Luke 2:36-38 that she was well past the age of needing a little hair color.

Anna married young, as most Jewish girls, somewhere around the age of 12 or 13. By the time she was a latter teenager, however, grief knocked on her door and buried her dream in a husband’s grave. What is a 20-year-old widow to do?

For Anna, the only answer was to be a worshiper in the LORD’s temple. Day and night, whenever the temple doors were open, Anna faithfully made her way to the One who gave her life, worshiping, praying and leaning on the hope of Messiah. One husband was replaced by another, and every day became about the dream of seeing His face.

Decades later, when Anna’s presence inside the temple had become as familiar to all of Jerusalem as it’s ornate walls, her dream came true. The Messiah she long worshipped came as a baby to a woman who would never have one of her own.

Thursday I read a blog article titled “The Anna Syndrome.” Written by and for single women and referencing the story of Anna in Luke 2, the article discussed the tendency of some single women to lose themselves in the busyness of church work as an escape from the weight of their singleness. In all fairness, I must point out that I’ve seen a good share of married women doing the same thing. Whether married or single, we all attempt to assuage our loneliness in the wrong places and people at times.

Though I enjoyed the article, I disagree in that I don’t believe Anna had any kind of syndrome. There is a big difference between finding comfort in God’s presence and seeking escape in constant church activity. I don’t see Anna signing up for every temple committee, making kosher casseroles, knitting lap quilts, or volunteering for the temple tiny tots nursery program.

She is worshiping. Singing. Praying. Preaching. She is a woman who has found completeness without a man, a career or even a to-do list to keep her insulated from the grief of losing her dream before it began.

Are you an Anna who is desperate to lose herself in church activity? Or are you the Anna who wants nothing more than to lose yourself in worship?

One will leave you empty and burned out. The other will leave you full and ready for a visit from the King.