Dear Father, I've come across people with degrees in a particular course of study but with little or no knowledge of the very course they studied. Yet there are others who passed through the same system and later became professionals, and even lecturers, in that very field. What accounts for the difference? Today, I came across a passage in Scripture which says: "The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me..." If those who deal with the law do not know You, doesn't this reveal that it takes much more than proximity to retain knowledge and, perhaps, much more than proximity to build a relationship with You? The risk of proximity often lies in the deceit that activity equates value. We may miss no services, post every church advert, and diligently perform our church duties--so close to the church, yet so far from the God of the church. The risk of proximity is the effect performance can have on relationships. And the fact remains that proximity does not guarantee intimacy, just as marriage itself does not guarantee love. How can we deal with the law and still not know the God of the law? Perhaps it takes more than dealing to know; perhaps it requires more than marriage to love. Today, I am reflecting on my proximity to the church to see whether it has produced a deeper relationship with You, or whether I, too, have fallen victim to the risk of proximity. Translations; Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindu Slide 5: Urdu #LettertoGod #proximity #relationship #intimacy #risk