Someone once remarked that life is a series of interruptions. That certainly is the case for the pastor of a parish in the city that never sleeps! Yet this description of day-to-day life really applies to just about everyone. We all have tasks to accomplish each day. We also have limited time and energy. And all too often an interruption is an obstacle to getting things done in a timely manner.

Patiently accepting that inconvenient people and events (such as a burst water pipe) will cause delays in our timetable is the only spiritually fruitful response. Thanking God for an unanticipated interruption is a pathway to holiness; it gives us an opportunity to show charity to someone who may or may not have something important or urgent to tell us. But we will never know which it is until we stop what we are doing and turn our attention to the person at hand.

As a priest friend of mine once quipped, “The lost sheep don’t make appointments.” But they do show up unannounced! That is when our annoyance at being distracted from a task at hand has to take a back seat to a genuinely welcoming attitude toward a stranger in need. God placed us on Earth and has a plan for each of us, a plan that includes meeting many people, all of whom we are called to serve in some way. Ceding our time and attention to an unplanned encounter with someone God has placed on our path is a true act of charity.

Taking time from our schedule to let ourselves be interrupted is great training in the school of humility. Humble people are credible witnesses in this world of God’s own patience and love for every one of us. An interruption will eventually end, but the way we react leaves a lasting impression on those we serve. The Los Angeles wildfires are an astonishing tragedy bringing unimagined destruction. We pray for all those whose lives have been brutally harmed by sudden loss and sorrow. We are grateful for all those who have dropped what they were doing and rushed to the aid of their neighbors. We pray for the souls of those who have died in a way few would have foreseen. The fires remind us that all of our plans in this life are tentative. We must be ready in the sight of God to lose everything, even our lives, in a moment.

We are given the opportunity to conform with love to God’s mysterious purposes—small as well as monumental interruptions are a reminder of what really counts in life. So, look upon all of them not as problems but as opportunities to show God’s love to others, preferably with a smile!