How much or how often do we try to make the connection between God and Jesus and everything else? GK Chesterton once wrote "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." But what does this 'trying' consist of? We don't always know where to begin. Our hearts can sink at the suggestion we should be doing more - attending more meetings and services - giving more time or energy that we haven't got. But I think it ought to be more about letting God in to everything else we do.

Giving more time to prayer and making effort to be conscious of God is always helpful.  Our set aside prayer or Bible-reading times and the services we attend can be like stitches that sew the fabric of our faith to the fabric of what we might consider more mundane things, so they don't slide off each other, but become one garment. But it's not just about these extra times, as we can only manage so much. It's more about making the ordinary things into prayer - letting God into them.  We can be conscious of God while driving, doing the washing up, or the shopping, while talking to a neighbour or family member - our work can become prayer. St Paul wrote "pray at all times" (Eph.6:18, 1Thes.5:17). He didn't mean we must be constantly on our knees jabbering at God - have some ceaseless inner dialogue going on. I think he meant we can allow the awareness of the presence of God to be there whatever we are doing - that consciousness that God is with us need never stop.

To be sure, that takes practice - but it needn't take much, if any, extra time. Brother Lawrence (d. 1691) wrote about 'practising the presence of God' always. He worked in his monastery's kitchen - and hated it at first - but eventually became renowned for finding God among the pots and pans, far more than most could when deep in prayer. This is something anyone can do.

The services and set aside quiet times are secondary to this connecting all of life to God. They are still important though as they call us back to this daily, weekly and beyond. The festivals of the church can be important in this too. Annual points of connection that remind us all of life is sacred.

Recent years have seen many of these traditional connection points fall away, even for committed Christians. Christmas is still a big time when most remember to connect, and Easter Day too, up to a point, but other important times - notably Ash Wednesday (Feb.22nd this year), Ascension Day (May 17th), Pentecost/Whitsunday (May 27th) and even Good Friday (Apr.6th) itself have seen attendances fall away. Is it any wonder the faith of Christians seems to slide off the rest of their life if they never make any of these connections - never connect.

Why not try putting these dates in your diary for this year now - and make an effort to reconnect on these occasions, so the rest of your life can be holy and full of the meaning God wants for it all the time.  But more importantly, practice the presence of God at all times.  He is always there, we only need to reflect of this and be conscious of it.