i post here pretty infrequently. i guess the rhythm is, if something spiritually significant dawns on me, it gets a place here in this journal of sorts. looking back at posts here, the fact that i only have four or five moments like that a year is about par for the course.

anyway. i’ve had a chunk of Scripture stuck in my head for weeks, since hearing it highlighted at LPV. it’s colossians 4:2-6. since i left organized ministry and decided to focus on my day-to-day interactions with folks, behind the scenes i’ve looked for a sort of map, or recipe, or set of instructions on how to carry that out. something fairly bite-sized that i could reference easily and often. i hesitate to call it a mission or vision statement, because those things have always felt arbitrary and a little silly to me, plus i’m really bad at doing it so it’s not much of a mission statement.

anyway. it says

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

that’s it. pretty nice little summary, eh? and it reminded me of the crucial missing ingredient, like making a bowl of cereal and forgetting the cereal: prayer. i have neglected this facet of my relationships with the folks around me. i also love how my first thought when i realized this was “man, you should go grab one of your books on prayer and re-read it to get back in the game”. or, you could, you know, just frickin pray and that’d work too.