Anticipation - It’s Making Me Wait

In the 1970s, the Heinz Ketchup Company had a series of advertisements highlighting the “thick, rich texture” of their product. The ads featured people pouring ketchup from a Heinz bottle and having to wait for the ketchup to actually flow. In the background you could hear the chorus of Carly Simon’s hit song, “Anticipation.” The message of the commercial was that Heinz ketchup is worth the wait.

Each year as we approach Christmas, my mind usually wanders to the topic of anticipation. There is, of course, the picture of millions of children who can hardly wait for Christmas Day to come so that they can open their presents and finally know what those wrapped boxes contain. But the very foundations of Christmas involve waiting and anticipation. The people of God waited centuries for the coming of the promised Messiah.

There are a lot of things I would change about today’s American culture if I had the power. One of those things is our inherent obsession with immediate gratification. If we want something, we buy it … and if we have to go into debt to get it, oh well. We have lost in many ways the ability to delay our gratification, to wait on something in its own season or proper timing. 

This also shows up in our always looking for shortcuts. How do we reach the goal in less time or with less effort? But sometimes time and effort are an indispensable part of the process. Finding ways around them leaves the cake “half-baked”, and we never really reap the full benefits we could if we were willing to, and disciplined enough to, let the whole process play out.

This holiday season, I encourage you to slow down and enjoy the slower way of getting there. Don’t buy the cookies pre-made … roll out the dough, dice the ingredients, form your own shapes. Own the process, not just the end results. And share that extra time with a loved one. Bake together … laugh together … do life together.

It’s worth the wait.

By Robby Richardson