Seldom for better and often for worse, seldom for richer and often for poorer, we are taken and we take others out of context. That realization got me to thinking about how we might reclaim context as an ally, as a force for good. I came up with three possibilities, and I'm sure you could offer more.

First, I think we could all give ourselves a blessing by living our faith not out of, but in context. Many of us live our faith out of discreet little boxes, similarly to the way we organize the rest of our lives: Hit the gym at 6:15, in the office by 8:00, lunch at 12:30 except on the first and third Wednesday when we take our lunch hour at 1:00 so we can spend 50 minutes with our therapist...Often, our faith lives don't even reside in "boxes"; instead, they reside in a single box labeled "One Hour of Worship on Sundays."

What a blessing if we lived out our faith in the context of our whole lives. What if prayer was the way we moved through the day...a gratitude expressed, a concern offered up, a running dialogue with God. (Yes, I said "dialogue" and not "monologue" intentionally because I believe God always enters gladly into conversation with us, sometimes with discernible words and sometimes with images and sensations and understandings.) What if we regularly kept two books on our bedside table--the one that our friend or our favorite magazine/radio segment recommended and one that invites us into the spiritual practice of lectio divina, reading for the soul. What if we joined in the studies, social gatherings, and reflective experiences offered in our faith community.

A second way to reclaim context as a force for good is to develop the graceful practice of allowing others the benefit of their context. Often I see in myself and others the tendency to let a single statement or incident pull a person irretrievably out of his or her context. What I mean by this is that we are often quick to forget or ignore the full context of our experience with another person in favor of believing a rumor or supporting a friend. We could do ourselves and others a great favor by slowing down and placing hearsay, innuendo, and out and out untruths within the context of all we know of someone. When your first instinct is to say, "That doesn't sound like her," it's probably not her. Slow down. Consider the whole. Inquire. And until you know, assume the best.

Finally, it seems to me the best way to restore the potential blessing of context is to do and say things that are difficult to take out of context. This is a simple one. If you send someone a quick note that says, "I'm praying you get that new job," it's not likely that sentiment will be taken out of context. If you rake your neighbor's side yard when you're raking your own, pick up donuts for your coworkers, or offer to do the dishes even though it's not your turn, it's not likely those actions will be taken out of context.

And even though we tend to agree that actions speak louder than words, there are some words that speak volumes, and that are rarely, if ever, taken out of context or misunderstood: You are a great blessing in my life. Thank you for the ways you inspire and encourage me. You did a great job. I love you.

Always in Hope,