Monday, December 17, 2012

Interrupted By Glory


This time of year can bring both blessing and hassle.  Holy meditations, carols, the contagious wonder of wide-eyed children:  these unwrap great blessings and usually great fun. 

For some of us, however, the activities of Christmas can feel like an intrusion.  Day to day life is more or less put on hold by an urgent need to shop and wrap and bake and write and plan and decorate.  Chairs and tables are displaced by, of all things, a tree in the middle of our houseThere's no time to do ordinary things, as everyday life is seriously disrupted for weeks on end.  It can all seem like a major interruption.

Last December, the truth of it hit me.  This is what Christmas has been since the instant of the Incarnation:  an interruption.  Please stay with me here, because our first reaction to the word “interruption” could be negative.  But interruptions are often quite positive, and this Interruption was the most positive of them all.

Think of it.  Mary was living a quiet, hidden life.   She was betrothed.   Then one day an angel appeared to her, and with that Holy Interruption Mary’s life was changed forever.  As was Joseph’s, as was yours, as was mine. 

As we know, there was a Birth.  There were shepherds tending their flocks, and again an angel appeared.  A night of sheep-watching was interrupted.  

While most of the world went on unaware, a few men in the east noticed something out of the ordinary.  A sign in the sky.  Something signaling, to them, a wondrous Interruption – one so marvelous that they must drop any other plans they had and go in haste, and they must bring gifts.  These men were wise enough to know that somehow the world had changed, maybe even that the course of life on earth had been altered. 

The change was so shattering that mankind took notice.  Calendars would later mark the divide.  God Himself had split the heavens.  We now measure time by the before and after of that Grand Interruption, in effect saying that yes, we see.  We may not understand, really, but we recognize the wonder and the mystery of it.  God interrupted the cycle of sin and death by breaking into our world (John 3:16).  Jesus broke into the flesh of man, shattering hopelessness with His power and mercy. 

With Jesus' arrival in the flesh, God interrupted our misery.  He opened to us the path to salvation.  

When I feel stressed by Christmas interruptions, I try to remember what I'm celebrating.   Death was interrupted by Life.  Despair was interrupted by Hope.  With His glorious interruption, God tore through the fabric of time.      

This is a slightly edited re-post, originally appearing on my other blog last December.   

18 comments:

  1. This is such a great thought. May God keep interrupting us all through our lives until eternal life interrupts our death.

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    1. Barb, what a wonderful thought is YOURS! Thank you.

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  2. Oh Nancy..I absolutely love this! What a beautiful insight the Lord gave to you! I'm going to keep this in mind as I make my way through the "interruptions" of the these final few days before the Birth that changed everything!

    This idea of yours sort of also reminds me of the day to day "interruptions" which make us all wish we truly lived in a cloister, or that we could at least go on a silent retreat..every weekend :) It's that longing for the rest and peace and quiet with the Lord...but He didn't promise that on earth. Maybe we (I!) wouldn't be so frustrated or stressed if I just embraced the intrusions of each day as God's Holy Will, one day to be replaced with the unending peace, rest and joy of Heaven! Love to you Nancy...what a blessing you are!

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    1. Patricia, thank you for such kind words! Embracing the intrusions... oh, that can be so hard (for me) to do. May we be given grace "for the intrusions..."

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  3. Christmas, or I should say Advent, is a high stress time to me. I really dislike shopping, gift giving and gift receiving are a nuisance to me, and I resent having my homeschooling routine cut up. Of course I try to hide all this scroogery from my children. So, I was completely overwhelmed when I learned that my weekend would be interrupted by, of all things, four days of ballet performances! The very last thing I wanted to do--I was busy having panic attacks at the mall! But off I must go. And I was so glad for the "interruption". I was forced to sit in a theatre chair and watch my big girl--so beautiful and serious, accomplished so much in her seven years in the program; and my littler girl--hubby and I were crying with laughter into our coats! When the kids were babies, I was "interrupted" by breastfeeding--forced to stop cleaning, cooking, fussing, and made to sit and stare at their sweet faces. With big kids, we're still interrupted, but it's by other things: a conversation, a performance, maybe illness. God sometimes has to force us to break away from the panic and fuss of modern "holidays". I really must learn not to thrash so hard against Him!

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    1. Jamie, you and I sound absolutely like two of a kind! I'm glad you found the ballet performances enjoyable... sounds like they were a nice time of rest in the midst of a busy season! I hope you will have many graced moments as Christmas Day draws near.

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  4. I will never look at interruptions negatively again. I would look to them as having purpose. Thank you for this! Coming from the Keeping Christ in Christmas blog carnival.

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    1. Thanks so very much, and a holy Christmas to you!

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  5. Lovely as always Nancy. By the way, I am awarding you the Top 2012 Blogs.

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    1. Anabelle, I am deeply touched! Thank you so very much!

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  6. Wow, this is deeply profound... A thought similar to this brought me back to the Catholic Church (and Christianity altogether), after years of having drifted off into a sort of vague, scientific atheism. Science, in large part, discounts religious claims because they can't be "scientifically verified." That basically means that, for scientists, what can't be repeated in a laboratory, can’t be duplicated by a researcher on another continent, can't "really" exist... So one day I was outside feeding my animals (we have sheep and goats), when this thought hit me upside the head like a hammer - "What if God incarnating as man is something that only happened ONCE in all history? What if it can't be repeated because it was a totally unique event, that God intended to be a one of a kind for all time deal? What if God incarnating as Jesus was not 'natural' at all, but was rather a wholly supernatural event? There would never be anything to compare it to in all time or space, no way to “analyze” it, so how could science have anything the least bit meaningful to say about something like that?" Indeed, God's "divine interruption" changed the world in a myriad of miraculous ways, exactly none of which can ever be repeated or “verified” to the satisfaction of the scientists. It took a few years, but that one thought, which you have so eloquently captured in this post, eventually breathed new life into my faith and led me and my family back into full communion with the Catholic Church. I am going to add “The Breadbox Letters” to my blogroll, if that is OK with you!

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    1. Felix, thank you so much for sharing your revelation from God. Now it's my turn to say "wow." As a person with a bit of an interest in Science, and who was once agnostic myself, I am literally bowled over by the thought that of COURSE the Incarnation could not be duplicated in a laboratory. WOW. And I am deeply honored to be on your blogroll.. thank you!

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  7. Visiting from the "Keep Christ in Christmas Carnival." Very thought-provoking observation, that Mary also experienced an interruption in her life when the angel appeared to her. And yet she accepted that interruption without hesitation, frustration or irritation. I need to be more like Mary when my well-thought out plans are interrupted. I need to remember that God's plans are never an interruption in my life, but a way to lead me back to the right path toward heaven. Thank you for this great posting!

    Cheryl
    http://www.diary-of-a-sower.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank YOU, Cheryl! I so often have to battle to be "graceful" about being interrupted.. it is a constant struggle!

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  8. Nancy,

    Such a thought provoking post! So much to share but I have an interruption of my own to deal with at the moment... a lovely one. I have to put down my computer and tuck my girls into bed. But I shall remember those words.. Holy Interruption. Thank you!

    God bless!

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    1. Thank you, Sue. And what a beautiful reason to put down your computer! :)

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  9. Thank you so much for joining the blog carnival, Nancy! I am so sorry for this super late comment! :) I love what you wrote, especially this part: "With Jesus' arrival in the flesh, God interrupted our misery. He opened to us the path to salvation." Thank you for the wonderful reminder! :) God bless always!

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    1. Thank you, Tina, for your kind comment and for co-hosting such a wonderful carnival! I had the opportunity to take a pre-whirlwind afternoon to visit every blog on the list. I found marvelous blogs and good ways to keep Christ in the center of our celebrations... just in the nick of time! What a gift.

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