Luke 1:46-47

"And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.'"

Reflection by Martin B. Copenhaver

For the most part, I don't like interruptions.  I would rather plan my day and plan my life.  So usually I begin the day by surveying all the things I want to accomplish and hope no interruption will prevent me from doing so.

I say that as a confession, because interruptions are one of God's preferred modes of confronting us.  The word interruption means, literally, "something that breaks in between."  We may experience interruptions as our routine breaking up, when it may be that God is trying to break in to our lives.

In the Christmas story, it is remarkable how the characters respond to having their lives interrupted.  For instance, Mary's plans to marry are interrupted by an angel who tells her that she is about give birth to the Son of the Most High, even though she is little more than a child herself.  How does she respond to this interruption of her plans?  She sings a song of praise.

The very birth the angel proclaims is itself an interruption.  It is God interrupting God's own routine by coming as a little one, born in a forgotten corner of a big world.  And when God chooses to come as close to human life as breath and bone and muscle, we can’t look at our own lives in the same way again.

It's not a story we would have come up with ourselves.  It's nothing we would have planned.  In a way, it's an interruption.  But in this season, for once perhaps, we have a chance to put our plans aside long enough to greet an interruption as welcome.  After all, it could be God breaking in.

Prayer

God, don't listen to me when I ask not to be interrupted.  Break in.  Break in.

About the Author Martin B. Copenhaver is Senior Pastor, Wellesley Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is the author, with Lillian Daniel, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.

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