Holy Interruption

 By: Lauren Thomas

Christmas is my favorite holiday, but…

 

How would you finish that sentence? I don’t think I’m the only one who would finish it, “I don’t like how busy the season feels.”

I hope for Advent to be a slow and meaningful time of year, full of contemplation. But my December always fills up, making Christmas time feel like the busiest time of the year! With a million to-dos, gifts to buy, presents to wrap, food to prepare, sweets to bake, Christmas parties left and right! I’m a total Scrooge.

 

Until this year.

 

No, I didn’t opt for a “Christmas with the Kranks” getaway vacation that would excuse me from all the holiday “humbug.”

 

But I did start thinking of the season differently.

 

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 

Matthew 1:20 ESV

 

I once heard holidays called “holy interruptions.” Though interruptions can be challenging or feel disappointing, there is a holy intention for our souls that comes at Christmastime. It can be uncomfortable, but we don’t have to fear it. Just as the angel tells Joseph, “Don’t be afraid,” the Holy Spirit whispers to our hearts the same thing: “do not fear this holy interruption, because it comes from God.”

 

Having carried three pregnancies, I can tell you, carrying the Savior was a holy interruption. It was likely accompanied by all the uncomfortable parts of pregnancy: morning sickness, heartburn, insomnia, sciatica, etc. All part of the holy interruption to Mary’s life. Meanwhile, Joseph had planned a happy, quiet life with his bride. What an interruption to find her pregnant. But the angel explained that this interruption was holy, that it came from God.

 

When our rhythms and routines are disrupted, a novel opportunity is presented: a confrontation of the soul. As our schedules are turned upside down, our souls can be turned inside out. Things we have managed to hide find their way to the surface. What do we find there, in our souls? What needs to be removed to make room for the holy interruption? What needs to be dethroned to give our Holy Savior his rightful place? What are we valuing above that which is from the Lord?

 

Though the festivities of the season interrupt my comfort, there is a holy purpose to that interruption. This year, in humility and submission, like Mary, I respond to this holy interruption:

 

 “let it be to me according to your word.”

from Luke 1:38 ESV

 

Reflection:

How does the holy interruption of the Christmas season find your soul? If you, like me, struggle with disruption to routine, how might you rearrange your life to make room for “that which is from the Holy Spirit”? This year, consider this holy interruption a divine invitation.