Jesus is big on interruptions...

A journalist and photographer, Paul Jeffrey is a United Methodist missionary.

Most of the good stuff in the Gospels comes as a result of interruptions in Jesus’ schedule. Jesus is going to do something or go somewhere, but a crowd or a hurting soul or a wiseguy stops him in his tracks with a challenge, a question. Lazarus is dying. We ran out of wine. Do we pay taxes? Jesus’ response comes not from a Teleprompter, but from a surprised heart. It rings true.

Jesus’ openness to these interruptions is a model for media professionals. Let’s confess: we often set out to cover a particular story with a preconceived notion of what we want to convey. Our notions are inherited, even subliminally, from the dominant mediaspeak. In a rush to arrive on time to interview our next Talking Head, we miss the opportunity to be interrupted. Committing the cardinal sin, we miss The Big Story.

The lesson: Just don’t do something, stand there, look around, see who wants to interrupt. Among the hungry and excluded at the edge of our interview or the margins of our analysis, which one is Mary? Of the little barefoot poor kids we chase out of our camera angle, which one is Jesus, the refugee child who bears good news for an anguished planet? We’ll never know if we don’t let them interrupt.