Mask or no mask?  Sit/stand close or far away?  Shake hands or bump elbows?  Go inside or wait for delivery?  It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing.  There are just too many unknowns any more.

It isn’t just the pandemic-related issues, either.  What pronoun do I use for this person I’m seeing for the first time in a while, who looks very different from the last time I saw them?  Can I ask someone how they’re doing without running into something sensitive in their lives?  How do I start a conversation that is about something deeper than the weather without ‘stepping in it’?  Can I share something about my own doubts or questions about how life is going and not get canceled?

Simply put, I’m really not sure how I fit in anymore.  I’m not sure how to be ‘me’ in our current culture.

As usual, I have begun to look into God’s advice on how to deal with it.  The passage that comes to my mind immediately is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians (4:5-6).  “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.”  Paul doesn’t give his readers a pass on interacting with people they don’t know.  He just points out that care should be taken to put grace forward first!

How do I do that?  How do I get myself in the right frame of mind to walk the mine-field of social interaction nowadays and stay engaged?  Paul had the same need, from what I read.  He covers that need in the preceding verses.  Focus on talking to God, first.  Verse 2 says “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”  It can’t just be “God bless me/us.”  Alertness and gratitude must be part of it, and I can’t be alert or give appropriate thanks if I don’t pay attention to details.  Preparation is key.  If my mind is full of thankfulness for the grace God has given me, then I’ll have an easier time extending that grace to others I encounter.  “Making the most of the opportunities” that come along frames my social interaction as a chance to do “God things,” rather than fearing human mistakes.  I sense the salty, “adventure” flavor in the possibilities, instead of the bitter taste of catastrophe.

So, my need for quiet time early in the day has taken on a new emphasis.  I going to take a look at my day and thankfully consider my upcoming opportunities.  I will journal some days.  My approach to venturing out now includes praying “without ceasing” (ala 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).  I’m looking forward to enjoying my interactions again.

Maybe I don’t need to fit in so much as I need to just be who God has made me in Jesus Christ.  Flavored with the salt of grace and a heart of gratitude, things might just go well, and if they don’t, that’s okay.  God’s got this anyway.