What gesture best describes your greeting? Is it a simple head nod, a hearty “hello” with brief eye contact or a phrase expressing your view of the day and the encounter “good day to you” or “don’t you love the weather?”

I’m a head nod type of person– reflecting my focus to get on with chance moments and attack the day’s true calling. This stingy gesture says something important about my reluctance to be whole.

I miss the spiritual potential of gesture.

I miss the moment of life ordained for that encounter.  I am instead attached to an agenda – one that splits me from reality and the wonder of chance and change.

I don’t really believe church people do this better– though many practice it at least once a week. I am learning that the uninvested spirit of God in the ritual of a handshake and a caring hello harbors more grace than a sermon or ritualized amen.

My soul has wondered from stoned faced worship to see God in gestures meant to connect us on a journey –without an agenda but with a liturgy of embrace. My soul sees God in the moments I break free from form and risk greeting with the breath of a holy now.