Elvis and other interruptions

Carol and I had agreed that I would stop by for a visit around 4 on a Saturday afternoon. She wasn’t in her apartment when I got there, though, so I followed my ears to the packed activities room where a good crowd, including her, was rocking and rolling with an Elvis impersonator. Foiled again, I groused inwardly, wondering how long I would have to wait.

I am routinely irritated by interruptions, and I guess that’s not unusual. Like many of us, I’m more often than not in a “people to see, places to go” mode. On the other hand, in my maturity, I have realized that what I perceive as an interruption, an undesired stop action, is often quite the opposite.

Wow, I hope Jesus wasn’t the personality type who found interruptions irritating. A quick read of Biblical accounts recording the days of his life can give the impression that he is just strolling around looking to see whassup, utterly available to whomever and whatever appears in his pathway. So, if he was trying to get to the synagogue on time or late for a dinner date, there might have been high stress. Ha! High stress in Jesus’ life? Ya’ think?

In a similar vein, I think of clergy who have to deal with the unplanned when trying to prepare for a funeral, get to the hospital, write a sermon, be on time for a meeting, etc. Out of nowhere, a needy person stands before them. Their vocation, their profession is geared toward serving people just like this one, but…

I was about to begin my writing day a while back when the phone rang and I was needed, if possible, to care for a grandbaby who was not feeling so hot. Oh no, oh dear, my day was interrupted! I wouldn’t meet my goal—but the deadline was unchanged. Boy, did we have fun! He was well enough that we would play for a while, and then he’d stretch out his arms for me to pick him up and nestle on my chest with a sigh. Joy. Peace. And he took an extra long nap, so I did okay with my work, probably even more efficient, seizing the opportunity.

Oh, and the Elvis event worked out fine, too. Of course, I slipped in with the crowd, reveling in the campiness of the moment. The guy really sounded like Elvis, voice as low as you can go and smooth as velvet. I laughed a lot on the fast ones; he really got us swinging! Then, after lovely time with Carol, I moved on wondering why I had even thought that the show was an inconvenient nuisance. After all, I didn’t even have to go to Vegas.

I’ll bet each of us could give a long list of initially irritating interruptions that turned out to be the very stuff of life.