Me:
Bro, I want to pick up with you a bit more on our brief conversation at tea break this morning. About the "touch and go" approach.

Brother:
Sure...

Me:
Just a short one for your reflection. Look at the life of Jesus and his disciples. There were moments when he and his disciples went out to touch the crowd. But as they engaged, they also disengaged very often so that they could spend time in solitude together as a core community. Jesus refused to compromise the importance of spending time together as a core community. Lingering with one another. Why do you suppose so?

Brother:
Because there's no point spending time with everyone and having no deep friendship with anyone. Wide but not deep.

Me:
Yup. And a real change of life takes place only when relationships are deep, not wide. There is a time and space for wide relationships, but it is the core relationships that give meaning to the wider relationships. So our primary focus must be on core relationships.

Brother:
Understood.

Me:
Your ministry out there with the "crowd" is meaningful only if you have a life that is centred in core relationships. Then wherever you go, it's our spirit that you carry along with u. Otherwise, it's just you. And as an individual, you have nothing very much to bring to the world, do you? Then you'd just be out there as a busy "doer". That's the way with everyone of us. So if u find yourself very busy all the time and have no time to be with people who miss you, it's a sure sign of something gone wrong.

Brother:
Do me a favour. If you see me forgetting this, can you give me a gentle reminder?