Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him - for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work - this is a gift of God.

He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, NIV (1978)

As we were getting up and about this morning, I made a comment to my wife how nice it was that we didn't have any interruptions today. Like everyone else, the holiday season is hectic for us, and it seems like every day had been filled with visitors and family gatherings. It would be nice just to be alone and get caught up a bit on some of the big projects we had going.

It only took a moment or two of thought before I had to modify my statement. Family and friends are not "interruptions": they are a big part of what makes life so pleasant!

I remember reading a little article from the Reader's Digest right after Carolyn and I were married in 1982. It was so impactful to me at the time that I cut it out and kept it on my desk in my office. It said something along the lines of this: "I used to couldn't wait for my life to begin. There was always some unfinished piece of business that needed to be attended to, children to be raised, some big project that needed getting through, some pressing work that needed to be done. Then, life would begin! After many years it finally dawned on me: These things were my life".

This little thought that made such an impression on me as a young man, means even more to me some 40+ years later. We have finished our earlier business, raised our kids and sent them off to their own homes to do the same, completed a million projects, and have taken care of that infinite amount of pressing work that just had to be done. And now? Well now it seems that life is even busier with more work, events, projects and family than ever.

And, as I sit here writing this, I realize that these things really are my life and that it is a pretty good life at that. The interruptions that I referenced are a big part of what has made life so fine, and I wouldn't want it any other way. It's true that there are times that it seems that life does get a bit too busy, but that's okay. We really haven't had a lot of spare time to think about how life was passing us by, or that we had somehow been cheated.

I think the main reason for this is that God has privileged us to be Christians. That gives a needed perspective that the physical things are not what we are really here for in the first place, but that the physical things are kind of nice to enjoy so long as we keep them in their proper place. In the passage above, Solomon is not saying, "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die". Instead, he is saying to enjoy and appreciate the blessing that God has given you - including the interruptions - for these are the things that help make life bearable. 

In short, the interruptions are in reality God's way of keeping us occupied with gladness of heart. And someday, there will be heaven! I wonder what kind of interruptions we will have there...