Talking Church

Some folks think we priests
Only talk about God.
I think we mostly
Talk about God by analogy --
We "talk church" instead.

We talk about
Sunday attendance at worship;
Budgets and endowments;
Programs and ministries;
Challenges and opportunities.

Church talk is addictive.
We can confuse
Talking about church
With being church
For one another.

Church talk is insidious.
We can forget
Church isn't the sum total
Of our prayer life or
Our life in God.

It's so much easier, though.
To talk church than to
Talk God.
I wonder with all the church talk
If God can get a word in edgewise.