My family gets rather annoyed at me at times—especially when they come in and begin talking to me and I don't respond; never mind the fact that I am in another world crafting words for the Herald, or in a meeting with my staff on my iChat screen. What we have here is "a failure to communicate!" I need to ask myself if my partnership with God is directing my priorities.

I wonder if the disciples ever got annoyed at Jesus? "There He is again, off by Himself while we're stuck here with all these people."

Or maybe, "C'mon Jesus, we've got to go. We don't have time to listen to that lady tell her whole life story."

Or, "Jesus, don't you even care? Wake up! We're going to die!"

As you read the gospel stories, you get the impression that Jesus was listening to the beat of a different drummer. He was in sync with what His Father was doing, but out of sync with human traditions and expectations.

It occurs to me that when God needed to break through and get our attention, He often partnered with the young to be His voice; Joseph, Samuel, David, Esther, and Jeremiah come to mind. We should note that He chose a humble group of 17- to 25-year-olds to lead out in The Great Advent Movement.

By all estimates, we are on the brink of something new. Could it be that God has already begun to speak? Are we listening?

Gary Burns is the communication director for the Lake Union Conference.