Interrupt – Marilyn R. Gardner

chickeninterrupt — courtesy of http://www.savagechickens.com

Years ago at my brother Tom’s first Christmas as a married man, another brother, Stan (stay with me here – I have four brothers) gave him a Christmas gift that was envied by all. It was two couch pillows, made especially by Stan. One said in bold, machine-embroidered letters “Don’t interrupt while I’m speaking” while the other replied “Don’t speak while I’m interrupting.”

The cushions were a humorous duo, the perfect gift for a newly married couple at their first Christmas together.

While the pillows were funny, living out interruptions on a regular basis is not. When I think about faith and faith dialogue, the “Don’t speak while I’m interrupting” phrase has been my mantra far too often. Even as people open their mouths to speak a sentence or articulate an opinion or belief on faith, I’m busy framing my reply. What an indictment on my willingness to hear another point of view; another’s words that will allow me to enter into a deeper relationship.

I have analyzed this inability to listen and I’ve come up with a fairly simple reason I don’t want people to speak while I’m interrupting. Fear. One little word with many ramifications. I am afraid that my faith cannot withstand argument. It is simultaneously troubling and freeing to admit this in a public forum.

It’s fear that I won’t have the answers to the many questions that can arise on evil, life, sin and eternity.

It’s fear that I will sound foolish in my feeble attempts at explanation.

It’s fear that my faith, this faith that is the foundation of my life, will be found wanting.

It’s fear that I will not have a defense.

And as foolish as it sounds, its fear that if I listen, if I take the time to understand, somehow that will spell “compromise” that dreaded slippery slope of a word.

In a recent Facebook discussion, I confessed this to someone who, it’s safe to say, has some different views than I. Elena is a critical thinker and while she has strong opinions, she clearly wants dialogue. So much so that she has begun a Facebook page called “Civilities”. On this page she invites others to react and reflect, always bearing in mind the importance of true dialogue.

Here is an excerpt from the discussion:

It wasn’t until about 5 years ago that I realized how bad I was at listening and how much I had been schooled in a vocabulary that those who did not share my faith couldn’t understand. I always thought I had to have a defense….and I think that may be what you’re talking about. Somehow, despite having a family that were great at discussions and critical thinking, I got it in my head that I had to have answers. All the answers. Constant defending is exhausting and crushes friendships. The need to defend changed for me as I began going through an introduction to Christianity where the goal is to listen and where there is a recognition that none of us have the power to convert. If I can convert you then someone else can convert you back. My whole world has changed as I’ve been let into the arguments and pain that Christianity has caused some of my friends. Those friendships are so strong, because I have no agenda. I love my friends and they love me without me having to defend a position. I have met more and more Christians in this area that are well able to engage in dialogue without coming across as dogmatic, doing so with respect and care, and a “free exchange” of ideas as you state, but I know that is not always the case…. “

The conversation went on and brought in several different view points and people. It was one of those rare times when people listened to each other and because of this all involved felt like they had been heard, had expressed what they wanted and had learned in the process.

Listening takes humility.

Listening takes time.

Listening means giving up control.

And it’s worth it. But as a talker I will be “in process” when it comes to listening until the day I die. Sometimes it will go well and there is no doubt that there will be other times when I will be living out the mantra “Don’t Speak While I’m Interrupting!” But I have tasted of the kind of conversation and friendship that can result from listening, the kind of faith dialogue that makes people want to hear more, and now that I have tasted of that sort of encounter, I will never be the same.

My brother and his wife have had an encounter with the Great Interrupter. Perhaps you have had one of these – when your life is going along without significant change, but there’s a bit of restlessness and wonder that hits you time to time. And then in a slow but steady encounter with the Great Interrupter, you realize that your life is being interrupted.

In their case the encounter has put them in a place of selling a home of over 15 years, leaving a church of the same, leaving a community where they have loved hard, and been loved back, and leaving the only home their children remember. They are embarking on a mid-life journey to begin a life in the Middle East. Who needs a mid-life crisis when the Great Interrupter is in your life?

It is an encouragement and challenge to be a spectator of this interruption. There are the myriad of details that boggle the mind and include everything from the first announcement made to friends and colleagues to changing lights so that the bathroom will be more acceptable for the Realtor. Details that include sorting through their children’s elementary school papers and art projects, dusty from their home in the attic, to giving away furniture.

There is the giving up of a cat to their newly married daughter, knowing that no more will Shasta watch them from her perch on the chair or window. And the lasts…the last Thanksgiving in this particular house, the last Christmas, the last …. just fill in the blank. How I hate “lasts”. The finality puts a nervous pit in the stomach. But in all this the interruptions continue and the Great Interrupter continues to guide, and push, and remind that none of this is possible without His guidance and great love.

Throughout history God has interrupted people’s lives, moving them from comfort to the unknown and asking them to trust along the way. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and more are in the ranks of those whose lives were interrupted and who walked in faith. They lived in a world without cell phones, email, Facebook, Twitter, and Kodak photos online. They didn’t even have the pony express. Leaving and saying good-bye was final.

There is a quiet trust that sustains them and reminds me and other observers that when God as the Great Interrupter is involved, although it may not make sense to some, you are in a safety zone of sorts and your soul can rest in this knowledge. With great interruption comes great expectation.

Have you encountered God as the Great Interrupter? What is the story of your interruptions and what did you feel and think as you went through them? Would love to hear your story through the comments!

Bloggers Note: Check out the organization that my brother and sister-in-law will be involved with called The Institute for the Study of Religion in the Middle East. (ISRME) This innovative institute has an aim to “encourage scholarship, academic collaboration and awareness of the diversity of religious life in the Middle East, and the ideas, belief systems, rituals, histories and social structures of religious communities.” This is the first of its kind and an exciting venture.